


Shinji and the Girls of RWBY

by VentXekart



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion, RWBY
Genre: Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/F, F/M, Family, Ficlet Collection, Harems, Lemon, Monogamy, Multi, One Shot Collection, Plot Bunnies - Freeform, Plot Bunny Collection, Polygamy, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:07:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 29,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22229914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VentXekart/pseuds/VentXekart
Summary: This is just a collection of plot-bunnies involving Shinji Ikari of Evangelion and his relationships with some of the female characters of RWBY ranging from familial (sisterly and/or motherly) relationships to romantic (monogamous and polygamous) relationships.
Relationships: Ikari Shinji/Blake Belladonna, Ikari Shinji/Ruby Rose, Ikari Shinji/Weiss Schnee, Ikari Shinji/Yang Xiao Long
Kudos: 7





	1. The Pilot And The Reaper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first and so far the only entry for a plot bunny collection I started on fanfiction.net recently which involves relationships between Shinji from Evangelion and some of the female characters of RWBY. A majority of these will involve romantic relationships (both monogamous and polygamous) but there will also be a couple of shorts involving familial relationships as well (EG: Shinji being adopted and raised by Glynda Goodwitch or Shinji being the adoptive younger brother of Pyrrha Nikos.)
> 
> A couple of things I'd like to point out though is that Shinji's semblance will be the manipulation and creation of A.T. Fields and that will be consistent throughout all of these plot bunnies while the weapon he wields as well as his origins (IE: Him ending up in Remnant as a result of Leliel or another phenomenon as well as whether or not he ends up on Remnant before or after Third Impact.)

Ruby Rose let out a satisfied huff as she slowly withdrew Crescent Rose back into its portable form. She had taken a nighttime stroll to her mother's grave as winter descended upon the island of Patch but afterwards she had run into some unexpected resistance in the form of a pack of very young, very inexperienced Beowolves through the forest and rather than trying to run away she did what a huntress-in-training would often do; Fight the Grimm and kill them. It was a good way to practice using her high-impact sniper rifle/scythe hybrid and the result was that the last of the Grimm's dismembered corpses beginning to fade away while casings from used dust rounds lay on the ground around her.

Since the brunette didn't see nor hear anymore Grimm, she decided to head home, but not before collecting the used bullet casings from her weapon. After all, they could be re-used provided she cleaned them both inside and out before refilling them with fresh dust rounds. The former of which she could do at home since her family had a rotary tumbler but the latter, she would probably have to do at Signal Academy as they had the proper facilities and equipment for handling dust. The last person who tried to do so at home without proper equipment ended up setting off some fire dust and blowing a hole in their house!

She shook her head in annoyance as she recalled that incident, thankfully she and her sister took their education at Signal Academy seriously. In fact, Yang had taken the exit exam at Signal near the beginning of winter and she planned on transferring to Beacon Academy in the Fall of next year. Ruby on the other hand, still had two more years before she could graduate from Signal Academy, but she was already showing promise especially after Uncle Qrow not only helped her build Crescent Rose but also taught her how to use it. Thank goodness their weapons were so alike to one another!

After gathering the last of the bullet casings from Crescent Rose, she plopped them into a small leather bag on the back of her belt and started making her way home as she walked through the snow.

However, as she took the first two steps, she felt the wind suddenly pick up as flurries of snow pelted her front side. That was odd, she checked the weather channel on the TV and there weren't any snowstorms on the broadcast, just a light slow flurry of snow. She considered pulling out her scroll and calling for either her sister or her uncle for a ride home but the Brunette was knocked off her feet by sudden and powerful breeze, as she shook the snow off of her head she saw a shape sprawled behind a nearby tree, it looked almost like something alive but she couldn't make out any details besides what looked like breathing, maybe?

She drew Crescent Rose and unfolded it into its Rifle mode just in case it was Grimm though she doubted it was one of the monstrosities after she ripped through a pack of Beowolves. It couldn't be an Ursa Minor, it wasn't bulky enough to be one in fact the shape looked skinny. Could it be some of the local wildlife? No, she dismissed the thought of it at first since most of the wildlife was either hibernating for the winter or had adapted to live in the harsh cold once it arrived and even then most of those animals tended to be skittish around humans and Faunus alike.

She carefully crept forward, quietly cocking Crescent Rose just in case whatever laid behind that tree was a threat but as she came closer more details started to come into her line of sight. It was skinny, whatever it was, and it seemed to have some sort of rubber or plastic suit on. Wait, that could mean-

She immediately darted forward with caution in the wind and after brushing off some of the snow with her bare hands she finally confirmed that it- or rather he was human. He was a boy about her age, maybe a few years younger considering how he was at least a few inches shorter than she was. He had medium length brown hair with two clip or pin-like devices atop of it and a scrawny build, he was wearing some sort of form-fitting bodysuit that was white on his upper chest with two vents on his pecs while everything below that as well the parts on his lower arms were blue. She thought she smelt a hint of blood, making her frantically search for any sign of bleeding or scars but she didn't find anything oddly enough. He was however lightly shivering from the cold despite being unconscious. She didn't know how long this boy was out here, but she wasn't going to risk him dying of hypothermia or pneumonia, so with some effort she hauled the boy over her shoulder and with a grunt of effort she pushed all of her aura and remaining strength into her semblance.

* * *

Taiyang Xiao Long at first was minding his own business, preparing dinner with the help of Yang when suddenly there was a barrage of knocks at the door.

"Dad! Yang! Someone, Open the Door!"

That was Ruby! Did something happen while she was out visiting Summer's grave? She might have encountered Grimm out there but usually the ones on patch were juveniles that were usually easy to kill. Not taking any risks, Yang pulled her fists back, unfolding Ember Celica from its portable bracelet form into its fully loaded form before swinging the door open, only to gasp in shock. That caught Tai's attention.

"Yang, what's wrong?" Their father called, "Yan- "He halted when he saw Ruby nearly out of breath, with an unconscious boy in a skintight suit hanging over her shoulder as she slowly hauled him inside.

Snapping out of the shock, he turned to Yang

"Yang, call a doctor now!"

"Right!" She nodded, darting into the kitchen to grab the house phone.

Meanwhile, Ruby on the other hand was brushing as much snow off the boy as she could. Feeling his forehead and feeling it burn beneath her hand.

"Dad, he has a fever!"

"Yang, Double-Time!" Tai barked.

"They're on their way!" Yang hollered back.

Ruby, wrapped her hands around one of the boy's free ones, hoping that she wasn't too late to save him.

* * *

The two girls were told to wait in the kitchen when the doctor came in with a familiar face trailing behind him. That person being Qrow Branwen, Yang and Ruby's uncle. He had apparently been in town and was planning to visit when he heard that a doctor was being dispatched to their home, fearing the worse he followed him there.

When Taiyang came in, Yang perked up while Ruby looked worriedly at him.

"Is he-?" She began.

"He'll be alright, you're lucky you found him when you did, Ruby."

Ruby sighed in relief, wiping the sweat off her brow with one of her free hands.

"That being said though, where did you find him?"

Tai asked her daughter.

She immediately recounted everything that had happened after her journey to her mother's grave including the fight with some juvenile Beowolves, grabbing the empty casings from crescent rose to be recycled, and then stumbling upon the boy laying behind a tree before bringing him back home with her.

Qrow then interjected at the end of her story,

"Are you sure there wasn't anything out of the ordinary out there when you found him?"

She was about to shake her head only to recall the weather briefly picking up for a moment before returning to normal just a moment before she stumbled upon the boy. After explaining that little tidbit to her Uncle and Father with her Uncle seeming interested the most by this revelation.

"Alright then…" Qrow trailed off before turning to his former teammate and brother-in-law, "Tai, I'll head out and meet up with a few of my associates maybe they'll know something."

Taiyang understood what that meant; He was going to meet with Headmaster Ozpin and his allies.

"You'll need these then." Tai-Yang handed Qrow a plastic bag that held the weird headset and rubber suit he was wearing when the doctor came in. It was a pain in the neck to figure out how to get the suit off at first until Qrow managed to spot the button on the wrist on the skin-tight outfit before zipping it off. The headset on the other hand appeared to be literally embedded into part of his head, not deep enough to cause permanent injury but there were scars and a bit of dry blood to indicate that the boy wore it more than once.

Qrow nodded, took the bag in one hand, took a swig from his canteen from the other before heading outside. A moment later out of sight from both Tai and his kids, he transformed into a bird and flew off towards Beacon Academy.

Tai hoped that Qrow or Ozpin knew something about where the kid came from and how he got here but something deep in his gut told him that there was something off about him. For now, he would keep a discreet eye on the boy and so would his two daughters, not knowing how the boy would change his younger daughter's life and vice-versa.

* * *

Warm…

He felt warm…

He wasn't in the Eva anymore but…where was he?

As he slowly opened his eyes, he saw an unfamiliar ceiling of…a cabin of some sort, maybe? That was odd, if he remembered correctly there weren't a lot of wooden structures in Tokyo-3 apart from a few Shinto shrines and a handful of locations with traditional architecture. So where was he then? How long was he out cold? And why…he paused, he instantly noticed that he didn't feel the skintight sensation of his plug suit nor did he feel the minute spike of pain on his scalp from the A10 Nerve clips. What happened to him while he was out? Did someone find him? If so, why wasn't he at NERV headquarters?

Slowly, with a groan he tried to crane upwards only to feel opposition from his aching limbs. He must have been unconscious longer than he thought.

"Oh?" He heard a feminine voice to his right, and slowly turned his head in that direction. Instantly after he turned towards the source of the sound there was a sudden whoosh of air and the only thing left were a few rose petals…

Then he heard a pair of muffled feminine voices up above him, one being higher-pitched and younger while the other sounded slightly lower, indicating that one of them was older. Sisters, maybe?

He rose up, his arms slipping out from underneath the blanket he now just noticed and found that he wasn't laying on a bed but rather a comfy couch with a pillow behind his head for comfort. He turned to his left at the sound of descending footsteps to see who it was.

He saw a glimpse of a red…cape? No, it was a cloak or something like that while behind that was a mane of long blonde almost golden hair that would've put Asuka's fiery red locks to shame.

"See, sis? I told you!"

The girl he heard earlier was indeed wearing a red cloak of some sort over a dark-colored almost gothic Lolita-themed outfit that was primarily black and red. She was petite, though she was probably taller than him, her hair was black but near the tips it transitioned into red, maybe it was dyed somehow? He knew better then to ask though, after all it could be natural much like Ayanami's unusually blue hair. However, the girl's eyes were what caught his attention the most, unlike Ayanami's red eyes, this girl had silver ones instead.

The taller blonde behind her was older and her outfit reminded him of bikers from those American films Misato had on video. Her long untamed blonde hair, her lilac-colored eyes and her tall buxom build would put Asuka to shame. Though, Shinji thought it seemed farfetched to think she and the redhead were siblings especially since they looked vastly different in terms of appearance and garments but then again he wasn't one to talk considering how many people thought he looked so different from his father.

"Hey there." The older girl said, a small smile on her lips. She came forward, with the girl in red following behind her.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

Shinji only managed to croak out one word: "Tired." He only just realized how hoarse his voice was and adding on to that was a sensation of his dry throat. How long had he been out of commission?

The blonde gave an understanding nod before asking another question:

"Can we get you anything?"

"Water. Please." He said. The blonde nodded again,

"I'll grab you a glass." She then turned to the girl in red, "Sis, keep an eye on him."

"Right."

So, he was right, they were actually sisters. He wondered who among the staff of NERV they were related to, if they had any business with NERV to begin with that is. However, if they didn't then why did they bring him here? He had so many questions to ask and very answers thus far.

"Hey." He heard the girl in red call to him, kneeling next to him as she brought her hand towards him.

"What are you-" He never got to finish asking his question as the back of her hand touched his forehead, she narrowed her eyes thoughtfully before doing the same gesture with his cheeks, first the left then the right before she sighed in relief.

"Good, your fever is gone. I was pretty worried about it after I found you in the forest."

Forest? Was she referring to one of the wooded areas in the GeoFront? The blonde came back with a glass of water as he requested and handed it to him.

"Here you go."

He took the glass and began with small sips, then after some deliberation he began slowly drinking the entire glass of water. His throat felt relief as the cool liquid raced down and ended up in his belly.

When he was done, he held the glass in his hands and gave a deep sigh, he must have been out longer than he thought.

He turned to the two sisters and nodded.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," The blonde said with a nod, "So what's your name? Mine's Yang Xiao Long…" She said pointing to herself, "And this is my younger sister Ruby Rose. She's the one that found you out in the woods." She finished pointing to the younger silver-eyed redhead beside her.

He nodded, "My name is…Ikari Shinji."

Ruby tilted her head for a moment in confusion.

"That's a weird first na- "

"Ruby, it's Mistralian." Yang corrected her as she grabbed her sister's shoulder, "Remember? The surname goes first followed by the first name."

"Oh, right!" Ruby said, "Sorry about that." She said as she scratched the back of her neck nervously.

"I-It's fine." Shinji said.

"Anyway, where am I?" He asked, "I don't remember the GeoFront having any cabins like this."

His question was met with a pair of confused looks from both girls. If they were foreigners here in Tokyo-3 then surely, they'd know what the GeoFront was.

"This…This is the GeoFront, right?" Shinji asked, now beginning to feel a bit nervous at the lack of answers. Ruby looked more inquisitive though.

"What's the GeoFront?" Ruby asked.

Shinji didn't know what to say at first, but he decided to answer to the best of his ability.

"The GeoFront, you know the underground area below Tokyo-3 where NERV headquarters is located?"

He was met with more confusion.

"We've never heard of Tokyo-3, is it a Village in Mistral?" Yang asked.

"N-No, No! It's a city in the country of Japan. You've never heard of NERV either? They're the organization with the Evangelions, t-the giant robots meant for fighting angels."

"Why would you fight angels though?" Ruby asked as she cringed, "I mean they're supposed to watch over us and help us, right Yang?" Yang though confused, nodded with her sister in agreement.

"They're not like the angels from myth and legends," Shinji said shaking his head as fragmented memories of his various battles with the angels flashed into his mind, "They're monsters, giant monsters that attack Tokyo-3 so they can destroy humanity. I mean they're the reason why second impact occurred fourteen years ago. Doesn't any of this ring a bell to either of you?!"

Yang and Ruby looked at one another, both unsure of how to respond at first. An underground base beneath a city that is run by an organization with giant robots fighting monsters named after mythological servants of the gods. That sounded crazy to both of them as there was no way any of those things could be real. The closest things they had to giant monsters were some of the larger creatures of Grimm and as for giant robots…Well, maybe the Kingdom of Atlas had their own giant robots but even then, they would be fairly hush-hush about any sort of projects like that.

To Yang, It was the sort of thing that would come out of a little kid whose read too many comics or watched too many cartoons but Shinji didn't seem to be that childish and the look on his face wasn't like someone whose had their dreams trampled on but it was more like he had honestly been exposed or seen something like that. The only real proof they had was the suit and the weird headset he had on when Ruby brought him in but Qrow took both of them with him to have some friends take a look at them.

She gulped a bit of saliva down nervously before looking at him.

"Shinji…you're on the Island of Patch, my younger sister Ruby found you in the middle of the forest when it was snowing."

Suddenly, the boy jumped to attention. Yang inwardly prepared to restrain him just in case he was mentally unhinged, but it didn't seem like Shinji was about to have a breakdown of some sort, in fact he seemed surprised.

"Snow?" Shinji asked almost out of surprise but also out of shock. It hasn't snowed in Japan in over fourteen years, not since second impact occurred! He'd seen videos of it from those old movies Misato had but it was one of the few things he never experienced since he was born after second impact.

"I-Is it really snowing outside?" He asked curiously. He dared not hope that it was…

Yang seemed to hesitate for a moment before answering,

"Yes."

Shinji had to see for himself, a part of him felt fear that she was lying to him but another tiny part of him felt excitement. He slowly got up from his bed, not acknowledging the foreign clothes he was wearing before standing up, his first step forward was unsteady but Ruby managed to catch him. She was about to sit him back down before he looked into her eyes and begged,

"P-Please! I have to see…"

Despite seeing Yang shake her head no, Ruby helped Shinji steady himself and she helped him walked towards the sliding doors to the back yard. When he saw the white powdery dots coming down, he nearly fell on his ass, only for Ruby to help steady him again. He couldn't believe it, he absolutely couldn't belief what he was seeing. His breathing picked up as he felt something stir in his heart. He quickly slid the door open and took two steps out. He froze when he felt the cold dampness under his foot and underneath his toes and he couldn't help but shudder at the foreign feeling. He stuck his right hand out and he managed to cup a few flakes in his hand before they slowly melted away. He looked around and he saw the white was falling everywhere he could see outside. One the ground, in the trees, on his shoulders, his feet, and his hair. There was only one word that came out of his mouth to describe such an experience.

"Beautiful…" He fell to his knees as tears of both sadness and joy rolled down his face. The sadness was for the fear he once felt of never being able to experience such a thing in his life while the joy was for finally being able to do so. And as the whiplash of emotions overwhelmed him, he fell to his knees and cried.

This…this was not what Yang was expecting. Had Shinji never seen snow before? She could imagine some people might feel excited to experience it for the first time, such as the case with a transfer student from the desert Kingdom of Vacuo she met at Signal. But…this was different…So much so that she didn't know what to do.

Thankfully she didn't have to do anything because as soon as Shinji fell to his knees, her younger sister Ruby ran down and hugged him, rubbing his hair and rocking him back and forth much like she used to do with her after Summer Rose, her step-mother and Ruby's biological mother passed away. Shinji accepted the hug and even returned it back to the redhead.

He didn't know where he was, how he got here, or whether or not he'd be able to get back to Tokyo-3 but all the trauma he felt throughout his life from his mother's death, to his father abandoning him, to the battles with the angels that became painful with each encounter, to the verbal and physical abuse he received from Asuka. All of it, began to melt away and for the first time in his life he felt a flicker of hope.

* * *

It has been a few days since Shinji came into the lives of the Xiao Long-Rose family and so far, he seemed to be fitting in. Despite the fact the story about him being a pilot of a giant robot fighting against giant monsters was considered the stuff of science fiction, it wasn't until Qrow Branwen came back that light was shed on the boy's situation. The boy's suit had a number of devices ranging from vital sign monitors to a built-in defibrillator and after the techies at Beacon went through it, they found a recording device and they managed to pull a bunch of data from it including some video files. The videos themselves were more than enough proof backing up the boy's story, but it also revealed something more startling: He was from another world.

Shinji was both relieved and nervous about what Qrow showed them. Relieved that he would be taken seriously because there was solid proof about him being a giant robot pilot but at the same time, he was nervous about whether he would face verbal, physical, or emotional pain by their hands. To his surprise though they took it better than he thought they would.

At least, that's what he thought about it. Both Yang and Ruby had both pulled him into bear-hugs with the former trying her best not to cry while the other was openly bawling, not because he upset them but because they honestly felt sorry for him.

However, he himself was trying to come to terms with the fact he was stranded, probably permanently in an unfamiliar world. One where he would never see Misato, Rei, Touji, or Kensuke again. Taiyang and Qrow were doing their best to help him adapt, teaching him as much as they could about the world of Remnant including Dust, the creatures of Grimm, the Kingdoms, the Faunus, as well as huntsmen and huntresses. But they weren't always around thanks to the fact they had their jobs as instructors at Signal Academy which was one of the schools for huntsmen and huntresses-in-training before they moved on to learn at one of the primary academies. Yang also wasn't always available because she was training in preparation of her attendance at Beacon as well and she was apparently running personal errands of her own.

However, there was one person around that was in the household the most in between classes at Signal and her own training was none other than Ruby Rose. She may not be as knowledgeable as her Uncle Qrow or her Father, but she gave him a basic rundown of what he needed to know and answered any questions he had about Remnant and she also offered to have him study with her just to get a better grasp on certain subjects and expand on his own knowledge.

Sometimes in exchange for this Ruby would ask him questions about Earth and despite the fact he wasn't as knowledgeable about his own world like his Father, Dr. Akagi, Misato, or Vice Commander Fuyutsuki he was also able to give her his own understanding of how things were back in his world.

Slowly they became fond of each other's presence and it was interesting for Taiyang, Qrow, and Yang to see how they worked together. In fact, when Shinji admitted to being able to cook, Ruby offered to help make dinner with him and the result was a hearty and delicious meal for both the chefs and the other members of the household.

However, it wasn't until after he saw Ruby practice using her scythe that he showed a minute interest in hunting himself. Despite the fact he hated piloting the Eva, he did feel as though he needed to protect those that were important to him. He wouldn't have saved Touji and Kensuke during the battle with Shamshel nor would he have tried to check on Rei after the final battle with Ramiel if he didn't. Though he was hesitant to voice this interest due to the fact he was reluctant to face any sort of physical or emotional pain that might come from that line of work.

Eventually though, after hearing that Yang's transfer to Beacon Academy was recently approved, he decided to take a risk.

* * *

"Taiyang-san?" Shinji asked as the man finished putting away some groceries.

"Hey Shinji, what is it?" The man asked amenably.

"I was wondering if could ask you something…"

"Shoot." The man said.

"Is there any way I could learn to become a huntsman?"

He noticed the man pause and he winced, inwardly wondering if he struck a nerve or upset him before the man turned around with a neutral expression on his face.

"What brought this on?" The blonde asked.

Shinji stuttered a bit at first, trying to formulate what he was going to say next. He honestly didn't expect him to be open, he was worried he'd face rejection at which point he'd submit to him but the fact that didn't happen was encouraging for him.

"Well…" The boy began hesitantly at first before he sighed, "You've seen the footage of me piloting the Eva, right?" He asked.

Taiyang gave a nod.

"Well, even though I hated piloting it I-I did it because I wanted to protect everyone."

"Everyone?" Taiyang asked.

"Yeah and Touji, Kensuke, Asuka, and Rei could've died during our sorties, but I didn't want that to happen and I did my best to make sure that didn't happen."

Shinji closed his eyes,

"Also, I'm tired of running away from things that could cause me pain like a coward and I don't want anyone else to face the sort of pain I did when I was piloting the Eva either. Trust me when I say this, but n-nobody deserves to go through that, and they shouldn't have to."

Shinji lost count of the times he ran away from situations or people that have or could inflict pain upon him. He even had that mantra, "I mustn't run away." With him for so long it was like a broken record that had been going on and on and on inside his head that it was drilled into his very brain and to be honest he hated it. He hated being a coward and to hear people call him one stung because truthfully, he was one.

He was a coward.

"Shinji."

His musings were interrupted by Taiyang's voice. He looked up to see the man giving him not a frown, a scowl but rather a small honest smile.

"You've got a good heart and your honest. Those are the two qualities a real huntsman needs out in the field." The blonde man ruffled the boy's hair friendlily.

"Now…" He began. "If you do choose to go down this route, I can personally guarantee you it won't be easy, you'll be busting your ass training and learning how to fight. While you do have some combat experience piloting that robot of yours, you obviously don't have any combat experience outside of the cockpit. You're going to have a hell of a time trying to make it to at least Ruby's level of training and you'll be shedding blood, sweat, and tears until you get there. So, let me ask you this; Are you sure you want to be a huntsman?"

Shinji felt a bit of excitement in his chest, Taiyang was going to give him the opportunity to become a huntsman, a protector of not only his new friends here on Remnant but everyone else as well. With determination in his eyes he nodded.

"Yes, I do."

Taiyang chuckled and gave the boy a pat on his shoulder, "Well, I guess we better get started then."

* * *

_Several Months Later…_

It had a been a while since Taiyang began training Shinji and so far, the former Evangelion pilot was making a tremendous amount of progress. On the first day of training, the older blonde unlocked his aura and after having Shinji's aura measured at Signal Academy it was found that he had almost the same amount of aura as Yang. Afterwards though the real training began with all sorts of physical exercises to get him in shape ranging from push-ups, to sit-ups, to pull-ups, to running laps around the house, to even lifting weights, which the boy did until he was exhausted. It wasn't all that bad though, if anything it was much more rigorous than the physical education classes he had back in Tokyo-3. Also, he received encouragement from not only Taiyang but also Ruby as well.

It was only after a few weeks of this that Taiyang decided to take him to Signal to figure out what weapon Shinji would use. He was startingly adept at using assault rifles, being able to handle the recoil of one much to his surprise. It could be chalked up to the fact that one of the weapons his Evangelion was equipped with the most for sorties were palette rifles, but Shinji humbly thought it was just coincidental. Regardless, he now had a general idea about what type of weapon he could build.

That left Shinji to try and design a weapon of his own but unfortunately, he lacked the skills necessary to properly design and build one. Thankfully, however he got help from Ruby who not only was also a huntress-in-training but also much to his amusement and Ruby's pouting a "weapons nerd" according to Yang. Jokes and teasing aside, Ruby did manage to help Shinji design, forge, and assemble his weapon which Shinji named after the composer of one his favorite tunes he played on the Cello: Bach's Cello Suit No. 1.

Ruby also was one of Shinji's sparring partners as he learned to get a hang of his weapon and whenever the redhead wasn't sparring with him, he was either practicing his skills against the Grimm alongside her or on his own. As of now he was at Ruby's level and though he wasn't officially a student at Signal Academy he was however Taiyang's unofficial apprentice.

Today was one of the few days he had time to himself and despite wanting to continue studying on his own, Ruby mentioned wanting to go into the city and had asked if he wanted to come with her. He refused at first though after a bit of begging as well as being on the receiving end of her puppy-eyes much to his amusement he reluctantly caved in and joined her. A part of him did want to see more of Vale since he had only been there a handful of times with Taiyang.

There was also the fact he admittedly was fond of the silver-eyed reaper's presence and she had grown on him ever since they met. True, she tended to be energetic, immature, and equally as naïve as he could be at times, but she is also honest, innocent, kind, and cute. Though he wouldn't mention that last part out loud for fear of accidentally upsetting her or facing more insufferable teasing…or any sort of anger from Yang.

However, both of their lives changed after they stopped a robbery of the store "From Dust 'Till Dawn" by Roman Torchwick and some hired thugs. While they managed to take down the criminal mastermind's mooks, a huntress intervened when he nearly killed both teens, and in the end the bad guys got away while both Shinji and Ruby were dragged by away by that huntress to a police station interrogation room. She chided them for putting their own lives as well as the lives of others in danger, she said that they would've gotten a pat on the back and a slap on the wrist for their actions but instead they ended up meeting Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy instead. He was impressed by Ruby's fighting skills and he recognized her fighting style because it was like Qrow Branwen's own style. Shinji on the other hand was something of a person of interest due to his circumstances and his origin to the point that Ozpin admitted that he several of his allies had been discreetly monitoring him for some time especially once he began training to become huntsmen, much to the boy's chagrin.

It was then that the headmaster asked if Ruby Rose would like to join Beacon Academy, a once in lifetime opportunity for her to attend the school of her dreams early. Her answer: "More than anything…" at which point Ozpin agreed to invite her. Shinji was given a similar offer although this one came from the blonde-haired huntress Glynda Goodwitch, she offered to not only offered to officially make him her apprentice but also to adopt him as her child and act as a counsellor of sorts. Touched by her compassion and happy to have the same opportunity as his friend, he accepted her offer.

Beacon became their new home with the initiation coming and going by as quickly as it came. Ruby Rose was now leader of team RWBY. Her teammates included her partner, the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company Weiss Schnee, the mysterious bookworm Blake Belladonna, and her partner as well as their leader's busty blonde-haired brawler of a sister Yang Xiao Long. Shinji himself wasn't part of a team since he was Glynda's apprentice but he was available as an auxiliary for the other first year teams if he was ever needed. This gave him the opportunity to interact with his fellow first years including those among Team RWBY and Team JNPR.

Their first semester at Beacon was not without its own issues with tensions between Ruby and Weiss arising due to the fact the latter thought she not Ruby should be leader due to her upbringing, her training, her age, and out of jealousy. Thankfully, after both received their own respective lectures from Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Port they buried the hatchet and things began to calm down. There was also the issue of Blake's heritage as a Faunus as well as her affiliation to the peaceful Faunus-rights group turned terrorist organization The White Fang which lead to a rift between Blake and Weiss. Thankfully this was resolved after Ruby and Blake along with their newfound friends Penny Polendina and Sun Wukong managed to stop a heist by Roman Torchwick and the White Fang.

The second semester was ongoing, with the only real incident of note so far being team RWBY getting into another tussle with Roman Torchwick and the White Fang. Meanwhile, the Beacon Dance that was going to be hosted for upcoming the Vytal Festival was scheduled and with Team CFVY unable to continue preparations because of how their mission was extended that left a handful of volunteers from the first years to finish in their stead. This would inevitably lead up to them having two questions: Who was going to dance? And who had a date?

* * *

Ruby was glum, not because of Torchwick and the White Fang getting away after their latest encounter but because of how she was worried about Blake. The Faunus hadn't been sleeping lately and instead had been obsessed with how Torchwick was working with the White Fang and was she was fruitlessly digging through whatever information she could find to determine their plans and intentions. She didn't know how to help her especially since she was the older girl's leader.

She was shook out of her sadness when a certain dust company heiress slammed her hands onto the table. Thankfully said heiress wasn't upset and instead she was smiling.

"I need you to pick a tablecloth."

Weiss slid two tablecloths in front of the girl and after a quick glance at both and she was confused because they were both completely identical, down to their size, color and material.

"Aren't they both the same?" She asked.

Weiss groaned, crushing one of them in her hand.

"I don't even know why I asked!"

"What's the matter?" They were interrupted by the arrival of Shinji, who was carrying a hot pot with something inside. Weiss told him about how Ruby thought both tablecloths she wanted Ruby to choose for the party were the same much to annoyance.

Curious, the boy took a glance at both and gave her an apologetic glance.

"To be honest Weiss, they do look completely identical to one another."

Weiss clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"I see…and what is that you have there?"

Upon seeing her pointing to his cargo, he dropped it temporarily on the table next to Ruby.

"Ah, I asked Goodwitch-sensei about whether we could bring our own food to the party and when she said yes, I made a few batches of chicken curry that'll be served at the dance."

Weiss knew that the boy had surprisingly…satisfying culinary skills when he cooked dinner for Team RWBY, Team JNPR, himself, and Professor Goodwitch to celebrate the end of the previous semester but the fact that he made a meal for such a large gathering is impressive.

"It's good to see that we aren't the only ones whose helping out."

"Yeah…" Ruby muttered as she stared back down into the table only barely acknowledging how the room shook when Yang dropped a massive speaker behind her.

"What's the matter, Ruby?" Shinji asked.

The redhead was about to speak but was interrupted by her sister coming in from the left, patting off imaginary dust on her hands.

"So, have you picked out a dress yet?"

"What's the point? Who cares about the dance if Blake isn't going?"

Yang kept smiling however,

"Oh, don't worry." She reassured her sibling with one of her trademark grins, "She's going."

Shinji frowned when he heard that.

"I don't think Blake will appreciate you dragging her here."

"Nah, I'm not going to drag her away. I'm just going to talk to her, that's all."

"Ah." Shinji said, "I see."

"That being said though…what about you?"

"What about me?"

"I mean are you coming to the dance?"

Shinji seemed to cringe a little he heard that. The closest thing he's had to parties were the ones Misato occasionally hosted after an angel was defeated but then again it was a small, casual affair. Besides himself, his guardian, and the two fellow pilots the only other ones that were invited were Touji, Kensuke, and Hikari with Dr. Akagi and Kaji sometimes joining in as well. The Beacon Dance on the other hand would be more formal and larger than any celebratory party that his superior officer threw with a hell of a lot more people. He honestly found the idea of being around that many people to be discomforting not to mention that-

"Hello? Remnant to Shinji."

"Oh, sorry about that." He shook his head, inwardly cursing out how introspective he's tended to be since he arrived on Remnant.

"To be honest Yang…I'm not sure if I'll be attending."

That admission caught the attention of all three girls in the room.

"Why not?" Weiss asked.

"W-Well, I'm not really great with crowds of people." A partial truth.

"You can stick us if you want, none of us would mind." Yang said as Weiss and Ruby nodded in agreement.

"I'm also not that great at dancing either." Shinji said as he rubbed his arm and looked away in embarrassment.

"Not everyone is." Weiss chimed in, "I used to have the same problem when I was at formal events hosted by my family as a kid."

"Yeah, well you also had tutors and your sister to help you out with that, Weiss." Yang said.

"Point." Weiss didn't bother arguing with that.

Shinji gave a nod, he appreciated that they were understanding about his situation and he found that it was growing more and more harder to refuse joining in. There was still one problem though…

"There's also the fact that I don't have date, I know Sun has been interested in asking Blake and I know that Yang is probably going with her too while Weiss has Jaune…" Weiss gave the boy a warning glare, "I-I mean Neptune!" He quickly corrected himself then she smiled and nodded approvingly. The Schnee Heiress had found Arc's attempts to woo her in the past to be annoying but his persistent attempts to ask her to be his date to the dance was becoming insufferable, but she digressed.

"And so far, the only girls who've asked me to be their date to dance so far were more interested in the fact I was Goodwitch-Sensei's apprentice more than anything."

Weiss clicked her tongue in disgust while Yang gave the boy a pitying look. The Schnee heiress wasn't unfamiliar with those types of people, having faced a fair number of boys (as well as a few girls) who've attempted to court her because of her own status rather than herself as a person. Yang on the other hand felt sorry for the boy, he'd already been damaged enough by what happened to him on Earth and he didn't deserve a bunch of shallow bitches trying to use him as trophy to flaunt around.

That was when an idea popped into Yang's head, she knew of one girl who'd be a perfect date for him. Someone who not only knew him as a person but also was not only single but also to the blonde's knowledge had a tiny crush on the boy. And the girl in question happened to be in the very room with them.

"Why don't you and Ruby go together?"

"WHAT?!"

Yang had to stifle her laughter; their reaction was just priceless! She had to resist the impulse to tease the daylights out of them for it, both of them were lightly blushing and shocked that she would throw such a suggestion out into the wind, but she knew that they would be a perfect for each other.

Grinning from ear to ear she continued,

"I mean seriously, why don't you two go together? I mean you've known each other for nearly a year now and it's not like either of you have dates of your own either."

Despite whatever protests both the former Evangelion Pilot and the Silver-Eyed Reaper might've had they had to admit that Yang had a point.

Yang chuckled, "Just give it a thought you two." She gave them a wink before turning to get back to the preparations only for her smirk to turn into a frown, yelling at Weiss about her bring out some doilies which lead to her arguing with the Schnee Heiress.

Ruby and Shinji turned to face one another.

They weren't romantically involved with one another, but they had fought together, trained together, and studied together to the point that they were close to one another much like how Nora Valkyrie was close to Lie Ren and vice-versa. Shinji was the only friend Ruby had from her time at Signal Academy that got to join her at Beacon while on the other side of the coin Ruby had saved Shinji from freezing to death. Both wanted to protect people, especially those that were close to them.

"Well, do you think we should do it?" Ruby asked with uncertainty.

"As long as you don't mind." Shinji replied.

"I don't."

"O-Okay."

Small smiles slowly formed on their faces as a pleasant feeling grew inside their hearts.

* * *

The Beacon Dance has just begun, and Yang Xiao Long was up front near the entrance as receptionist in her outfit for the dance; A short, white halter dress with grey hemming that worked well with her bright hair and skin as well as tasteful high-heeled white pumps. She gave her long blonde locks a quick flick with her right hand as she waited for more people to arrive and she wasn't disappointed as her younger sister came into the door.

"Oh, you look beautiful!" The blonde squealed.

Ruby was wearing a short red sleeveless dress with black trim along the bottom, a translucent mesh in between sections of the hem, collar, and the split bodice that had black lacing wrapped in between it. She had a black sash wrapped around her mid-section, black stockings and matching high-heeled pumps with the latter causing her to groan in discomfort.

"Can we talk about how Weiss fights in these?" The girl whined, nearly stumbling forward as her older sister giggled at her.

"Not funny!" The redhead pouted as she lost her balance and stumbled backward…

"Whoa, you okay?" Only to be caught by her date.

Shinji was wearing a light blue button-up dress shirt with a navy-blue tie around his neck, a matching waistcoat and matching dress pants. He had brown leather shoes with brown laces and a matching belt with a silver buckle.

Ruby gave him a nod as a small blush formed on her face as Shinji helped her back up and steadied her while Yang gave him an impressed whistle.

"Damn, you look nice!"

"Y-yeah, thanks." Shinji said as he rubbed his left arm bashfully with a matching smile and a small blush to boot at the blonde's compliment, completely unaware that Ruby quietly agreed with her sister. However, once they heard one of the songs in the air switch to another waltz, they realized that they still had a dance to attend. Shinji cleared his throat while Ruby straightened out her dress, it was now or never.

"May I have this dance?" Shinji asked with a bow and Ruby gave him a curtsy in response before the boy nervously positioned his right hand under the girl's left arm pit while his partner placed her left arm upon her right with her hand resting on his upper arm before both gently intertwining their free hands together. They started awkwardly at first due to the redhead's difficulty moving in heels, but thankfully the brunette acknowledged that and slowed down his own pacing to match her own ignoring that they were slightly out of rhythm with the music in the background.

Slowly but surely though they got the hang of it and they were dancing in rhythm with everyone else there. They did stop once though, mainly so they could acknowledge that a certain cat Faunus had joined the party and she was there alongside the Monkey Faunus Sun Wukong. However, instead of joining him for the first dance. They were together for a few minutes before both bowed out with Yang going to join Weiss, Ruby, and Shinji and Blake accepting Sun instead. The black-haired Faunus laughed with Sun as they were dancing and gave a quick appreciate glance at her teammates.

"I told you she would come." Yang said reassuringly and smugly.

"Mission Accomplished." Weiss agreed.

"So…what do we do now?" Ruby asked.

"Just have fun!" Yang waved her off, going in one direction while Weiss in the opposite one.

"Uh…girls?" Shinji asked in uncertainty. He and Ruby already danced longer than all the others did but now they weren't too sure.

"Uh, does that mean I can change of these stupid things and into my hood now?" She asked her teammates as they were out of reach, she tried walking forward only to grunt about "Lady Stilts".

"Sorry, Ruby…" Shinji apologized.

"N-No, No! It's okay, it's alright…" She said sheepishly.

"Do you want to head back to the dorms?" Shinji asked.

"I'm not sure but- "

"Not enjoying yourselves?"

They perked up at the sound of their Headmaster's voice as he approached from their right flank, a small smile on his face.

"No. Everything's fine." Ruby said with a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah, same here." Shinji did the same.

"Though I'm not much of a dansey, pansy, dancy girl." The girl whimpered to him.

"I can understand that," Shinji nodded in agreement, "Too be honest, I've never been in big dances or events like this before so it's a bit of a culture shock for me…" He rubbed his right upper arm nervously.

Thankfully, Ozpin understood as he turned to watch the other dancers.

"Well, you can't spend your entire life on the battlefield. Even if you may want to."

"True." Shinji muttered.

"Yeah, that lesson has been floating around a lot lately." Ruby crossed her arms and scowled in frustration. She was tired of being chided for not only her actions but the actions of her team. Not to mention the fact that she'd prefer fighting over dancing any day.

"If you think about it, fighting and dancing aren't so different." Ozpin said as he pointed towards the dancers, "Two partners interlocked." He chuckled while both Shinji and Ruby had a warm fuzzy feeling churning in their chests, the same one they had when they were dancing together.

"Although, one wrong move on the ballroom merely leads to a swollen foot."

"…Or a twisted ankle." Ruby and Shinji muttered synchronously, leading to both looking at each other with blushes and then quickly sputtering out apologies to one another much to their headmaster's amusement.

"It's not every day that friends are able to come together like this. Time has a way of testing our bonds but it's nights like these that can help keep them stronger than ever."

"Nights like these are ones we'll never forget." Ruby smiled and Shinji couldn't help but glance at it out of the corner of his eye. _'She has such a beautiful smile.'_ A small part of him ached because he was unsure about telling her how he felt about the older girl, mostly for the fear of being rejected and abandoned…again.

He shook his head as Ruby went upstairs to meet up with Yang after the last of the students and staff and arrived. Leaving him alone with Headmaster Ozpin at least until he began to depart.

"Enjoy the rest of your evening, Mr. Ikari."

Perhaps…maybe he can help.

"Headmaster?"

The man turned back around to face his student.

"I was wondering…" The boy exhaled, clearing his mind before moving forward, "Do you have any advice you'd be willing to give me about…" He paused, "…Romance?" The boy nervously drawled out.

Ozpin furrowed his brow, taking a quick glance back at Ruby Rose meeting with her sister Yang Xiao Long then turning back to Shinji with a brow raised before the boy nodded, a small blush on his face. The man chuckled, though he considered himself to be the last person that anyone would go to for relationship advice he was more than willing to help the former Evangelion pilot with a chance at happiness.

"Well, here is what you should do…"

* * *

As Ruby bowed to a guest that was leaving, she heard the voice of her date calling her name.

"Shinji?"

"Ruby, I'm sorry to bother you but I was wondering if we could talk."

"Talk? About what?" She wondered what he needed to talk about, she was about to call it a night after all.

"I-I just need to tell you something, that's all." What could he possibly want to tell her? Ruby thought for a moment about what the boy would want to talk about with very few things coming to her mind except…

Could he…could he be trying to confess to her? She did have a crush on the boy even though she denied whatever teasing Yang threw her way about the subject but that pleasant warmth she had whenever she was around him or looking at him grew after they first met. Ruby honestly thought she wasn't cut out to be Shinji's girlfriend though which lead to her inwardly dismissing the thought, _'I mean I'm one-year older him, I'm a weapons geek and I'm just a girl with normal knees after all! He's piloted a giant robot and fought against giant monsters that weren't Grimm.'_ She paused

_'Then again…I did help build his weapon, I studied with him, I've trained and sparred with him, and we both are here at Beacon together. That and even though he piloted that giant robot, he never really liked it at all, probably because it hurt but maybe…Maybe he wants to be someone with normal knees too…"_

Rather than dwelling on it, she made the wise decision to continue their discussion elsewhere, as it was hard to talk to him with the energetic music in the background.

"Right, um…can we talk outside? It's getting a little too loud in here for me."

"Oh, not a problem." He said as he grimaced, "The music is starting to give me a bit of a headache too."

So, with that they exited the ballroom and Shinji began to speak only for Ruby to stop at the sight of something- No, someone in black clothing hoping along the rooftops of one of the dorm buildings.

"Ruby? What's wrong-" The silver-eyed girl pointed towards the roof and the attention of his gray-blue eyes were drawn towards the same target.

"Later then?" He asked quickly.

"Yeah." Ruby said.

Soon they followed the target hopping from the rooftop until they lost visual sight of her near the CCT Tower, so they went towards it to investigate with Ruby up front and Shinji trailing behind her. However, at the sight of an Atlesian Soldier laying on his back near the stairway that is when things became serious. Shinji darted towards the man and quickly checked his pulse while Ruby pulled out her scroll.

"He's still breathing."

The boy heard a loud whoosh echo through the air before a crash caught his attention, it was one of the student lockers which popped open to reveal a folded Crescent Rose.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Ruby asked.

Shinji stood up and pulled out his scroll, and with a quick flick on an application, he heard and saw another locker crashing down and popping open with Bach at the ready.

"Yeah…" Ruby darted forward to grab Crescent Rose, unfolded it, and loaded it with a fresh cartridge while Shinji grabbed Bach and slapped a fresh clip into it.

"Can you cover me?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, lead the way." Shinji said with a nod.

Thus, they quickly made their way to the CCT tower in pursuit of the mysterious intruder.

* * *

Cinder Fall couldn't help but smile to herself after a job well-done. She managed to incapacitate the guards at the CCT Tower and she managed to upload the virus to the system, this meant the final phase of her mistress' plan would be ready just in time for the end of the Tournament after which the Siege of Beacon could begin.

She stood up from the seat at the CCT Terminal and was about to leave until she heard the arrival of the elevator which caused her to quickly dart into cover. Who could possibly be interrupting her now? She managed to take all the guards down and she highly doubted that Ironwood could make it to the CCT tower that fast. Perhaps Ozpin was clever enough to put in a silent alarm in place or something, in which case things could become troublesome.

She listened as the door opened and two sets of footsteps came out, one in high-heels and the other in shoes.

"Hello?" Young more than likely female judging by the doppler effect of her heels clacking. Cinder had to hold back a snort of amusement when she heard the girl stumble a bit in her heels.

"Is anyone there?" Another equally young voice and though it seemed meek it was definitely a male.

So, a pair of students were here, more than likely they saw her handiwork downstairs. A bit irritating but nothing she couldn't handle.

"Hello?" She heard the female voice get closer and smirked, perhaps she could have a little fun with them. Slowly she stood up, getting the attention of both individuals.'

"Excuse me?" The female asked again, nervous perhaps? Cinder took two slow strides to the right out of cover, getting a glimpse at both of her opponents.

 _'The Kids from The Dust Robbery.'_ She remembered how a simple dust heist by Roman Torchwick went foul one night because of two kids, a hunter and huntress-in-training who were inside when the robbery began. They managed to take down the hired hands from Hei 'Junior' Xiong and they managed to catch up to Torchwick after he jumped onboard the bullhead Cinder was flying. Roman tried to eliminate them, a professional huntress intervened but eventually Cinder managed to get the three off their back so she and Roman could escape. She saw that they were both armed with the same weapons they had during her previous encounter with them and were more than ready to use them despite being in formal wear.

"You know it's not a masquerade party." She pulled out a canister of dust and focused power into her semblance, "So why don't you take off that- "

And quickly she sprayed the dust into the air and used her semblance to form them into solid crystal shards aimed at both of them.

"Look Out!" The boy shouted and then she fired them out with a shockwave. The girl's eyes widened for a second but she managed to quickly twirl her scythe around to slash or deflect the shards away from her while a mysterious force-field, most likely a product of the boy's semblance formed in front of him and the shards quickly shattered harmlessly off it.

The redhead planted the blade of her weapon down and fired several semi-automatic shots at her while the brunette released a burst of shots of fully automatic shots at her. Cinder channeled the power of the dust embedded in her clothing as well as her half of the Fall-Maiden's power to deflect their shots away and then she combined it with her semblance to form two black glass blades.

Cinder dodged another burst of gunfire from the boy's weapon as the girl in red pulled her scythe out of the ground and used the recoil from the weapon's long-ranged mode to send her forward and attempted to cleave her in half. The infiltrator managed to dodge her with a double back-flip, also avoiding the boy's attempt at suppressing her and quickly she focused and formed the two hand-blades into a glass bow with three arrows of the same material with fire dust nocked at the ready and the power of the maiden embedded in them and then she released them. The girl stumbled out of the way from the blast but managed to steady herself using the blade of her scythe.

The False Fall Maiden craned her head up from her kneel and managed to catch sight of the boy coming to the side of his companion, offering a quick concerned glance at her before the girl nodded. Cinder grinned, looking forward to whatever further challenge they could give her but the sound of the arriving elevator came to her ears. She took the opportunity to make a run for it and dash through the window while they were both apparently distracted.

However, she was nearly distracted for a moment as she came out when a trio of stinging pains shot through her, one through the top of her right shoulder, one just above her buttocks, and one on the leftmost part of her back. Ignoring the pain, she quickly made a run for it to get back to the dance and shed her fatigues before anyone noticed. Cinder's aura thankfully managed to heal the wounds so no one else would notice when she arrived but she would have to make a mental note to keep an eye on those two kids.

* * *

The night ended poorly for both Shinji and Ruby. General Ironwood had saw what had happened at the CCT and took it upon himself to investigate when he heard gunfire from the top. He caught Ruby looking back at him emerging from the elevator and then caught Shinji making a few shots at an unidentified figure who jumped through one of the windows. The General was not exactly amused by this turn of events and he ordered his soldiers to sweep the surrounding area for signs of the intruder while he stood guard over the two students that were involved.

They were released once the soldiers reported back but they were told that the General as well as Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch would want to speak with them the next morning. When the time came, both got on their clothes for the day and made their way to Ozpin's office to face whatever punishment or penalties that might await.

"So…what do you think is going to happen to us?" Ruby asked nervously.

"I-I'm not sure." Shinji replied, "I mean they did go searching for whoever was in the CCT Tower last night, but they didn't find anyone…"

"That sucks." Ruby groaned, "Do you think they'll expel us?" She asked worriedly, after all if both were expelled from Beacon then they wouldn't be able to graduate or get their hunting licenses! It would be worse in Shinji's case because his apprenticeship with Glynda Goodwitch would be down the drain and it would probably result in the professor having quite a dent in her reputation as well. They'd be forced to either go to another school in one of the other Kingdom's and beg to be accepted there or abandon any chances of being a huntress or huntsmen and become civilians instead.

"I doubt it." Shinji said, "Glynda told me that while we are guilty of unauthorized use of our weapons lockers, unsanctioned use of our weapons on school grounds, and property damage…she said there was evidence that there was an intruder there last night so we're cleared of any involvement with whatever happened to the guards."

"Phew." Ruby sighed in relief, "Well, that means we get a bunch of detentions, instead right?" She and Blake both got detentions after that incident at the docks during their first semester. If the whole team had been involved much like with what happened with Roman Torchwick and the Atlesian Paladin, they would've faced a suspension instead. Both punishments sucked but it was better than getting kicked out.

"Y-Yeah, right…" Shinji trailed off, pausing for a moment as they reached the building that lead to Ozpin's tower. Ruby pressed a button on the elevator and they both waited. Seeing as there was spare time, Shinji decided to try and make his move.

"Ruby, about last night…" He began with closed eyes and bated breath

"Hmm?" She hummed.

"Remember when I said there was something I needed to tell you?" He asked as he slowly opened his eyes.

Ruby tilted her head in confusion before it came back to her.

"Oh, right! Yeah…uh, what is it you want to tell me?"

The boy was about to begin but then they heard a ring, the elevator had arrived.

"Lady's first." Shinji said.

"Thanks!" Ruby said.

"So…as I was saying- "He was interrupted by Ruby pressing all the floor buttons on the elevator.

"Uh, what?"

"Oh, I'm buying us some time," Ruby said with a cheeky sheepish grin, "You know…it's not like we're purposefully trying to be late, right?"

Shinji shook his head an amusement before they both stood side by side as the elevator ascended, slowly.

"A-Anyway, Ruby there was something I need to tell you." Shinji began, as butterflies fluttered about in his stomach

"Yeah, what is it?" She asked.

The boy took a deep breath in then a deep breath out.

"I-I know you've done a lot for me ever since I ended up here on Remnant. You saved my life, you helped me recover, you gave the inspiration I needed to become a huntsman…" He gestured as he continued, "…Y-You helped me design and build my weapon and we both trained and studied together."

"It's not a problem, Shinji…I mean that's what friends do, right?" Ruby asked.

"Well, what if we could be more than friends?" Shinji asked nervously.

"Eh?" Ruby raised an eyebrow at first, wondering what he meant by becoming 'more than friends' before being instantly reminded of the stories Taiyang told her and Yang about how he started dating Raven Branwen…and later Summer Rose after the disappearance of the former. Her face reddened.

"D-Do Y-You M-mean?" She stuttered a bit as Shinji slowly nodded, his own face turning red.

"I-I love you Ruby, I really do, and I was wondering if you want to be my girlfriend."

There was a moment of silence as they stood in front of one another and while neither of them knew who made the first move the end result was a warm, loving embrace as the barriers between them were broken.

* * *

The discussion Ozpin was having with Glynda Goodwitch and James Ironwood regarding the incident last night was interrupted when a string of beeps on his console rang out, just as Ironwood finished his tangent.

"Come in." Ozpin called out and soon the doors opened to reveal-

…

Oh…

What they were seeing in front of them was an unexpected surprise. Both Shinji Ikari and Ruby Rose were both in the elevator in an embrace with their lips locked together in a passionate kiss with the latter lifting one of her feet up in the air as she leaned into the former.

Ozpin's eyebrows were raised comedically, the young Ikari had come to him for advice involving his crush but he didn't expect his student to be snogging in the elevator. That was a first for him, he couldn't recall anything like this happening in any of his previous incarnations as head of Beacon Academy and to be honest he found it strangely amusing.

Glynda's eyes widened, it took all her restraint to prevent her from bringing out her weapon and punishing the two students for having the audacity of performing a public display of affection in front of Ozpin's office. However, she did felt a spike of happiness for her apprentice as the boy did deserve better than what he had during his time on Earth and having a loving partner was one of the best things he could possibly get.

Ironwood was bewildered and bemused, which was indicated by his raised eyebrows, but he didn't know whether he should break the two up or let them continue. Thankfully he wouldn't' have to choose.

Ozpin cleared his throat, which caused both students to open their eyes and when they saw their audience they quickly split up, muttering apologies all the while much to the amusement of all the adults present.

They quickly spoke in length about what happened last night, asking questions about the women they saw and fought during the ball and it was enough to reveal that it matched the description of the same women who Glynda, Ruby, and Shinji encountered in Vale. Ruby brought up whether or not she was linked to Torchwick and the White Fang's activities and while Ozpin did say there wasn't enough evidence to link the them together it was something worth looking into especially after the young girl and boy mentioned that the women said something about a hideout in the Southeast. Glynda want to press more but Ozpin thanked them for their time and dismissed them.

As the two were leaving though, Shinji and Ruby grabbed each other's hands and interlocked them together.

When they were gone, Ozpin couldn't help but chuckle.

"Oh, to be young to feel love's keen sting."

Glynda gave an unladylike snort as she rolled her eyes in amusement while Ironwood pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"Anyway…can we please get back on topic?" Ironwood asked.

Thankfully everyone involved agreed before their discussion continued once more.

* * *

When they returned, Shinji and Ruby broke the news that they were now a couple to the remaining members of RWBY as well as Team JNPR.

Weiss verbally complained that it was "about time they got together." Though everyone could see that the heiress was amused and happy for the two of them.

Blake gave them their congratulations and blessings, though she did whisper to Ruby about some…interesting literature she could use for future reference if she needed it. Whether it was done teasingly or not, Ruby's face turned the same color as her cloak while Shinji couldn't get a straight answer from her as to what they talked about.

Yang was ecstatic, in fact she had brought both teens into a massive bearhug that crushed them into her sizable bosom and then voiced her approval and happiness for both Shinji and Ruby. It was surprising that the blonde brawler didn't give the younger boy the "break my sister's heart and I'll…" threat for courting her younger sister but she later revealed it was because she trusted Shinji to treat his sister right though she did also warn him to be prepared for both Taiyang and Qrow to do so instead.

Jaune and Pyrrha were both happy for the two of them and oddly enough it led to Jaune and Pyrrha making a similar announcement the following week.

Nora spun about like a top and continued a happy tangent about wedding planning, baby showers, engagements, and much more before Ren managed to distract her with some pancakes.

Speaking of the Mistralian he also voiced his approval for the two of them and he offered to protect them from Nora's attempts at playing matchmaker.

Glynda Goodwitch visited them later, voicing her approval of their relationship but reminding them to keep their studies and training up to speed in between whatever free time the two of them had together which they vowed to do so under the threat of her wrath much to her amusement.

Since Shinji and Ruby both only recently started their relationship they kept things slow for the most part, they kissed each other when they met in the morning and kissed each other before they went to bed, they gave each other hugs, and they sometimes cuddled with one another when they were studying together.

The best moments for the couple weren't the ones where they were fighting alongside each other against various bad guys or the creatures of Grimm but when they were just together side by side after the battles were over or when they had no worries on their minds. One of these moments occurred following the breach.

* * *

"Hey, have any of you guys seen Ruby?" Yang asked her two teammates, both of whom were cleared from the infirmary by Professor Peach about an hour ago. Night had fallen and most of everyone was exhausted after the White Fang ran a train from Mount Glenn under the city of Vale and through the town square with Grimm following behind. The attack however was thwarted, the Grimm were exterminated, the breach was sealed, and Roman Torchwick was in custody. Civilian casualties were limited to injured civilians but thankfully nobody was killed when all hell broke loose. That being said, Yang was separated from Ruby and Shinji when they took a Bullhead back to Beacon.

"They weren't in the infirmary when we got there, Professor Peach cleared her and Shinji earlier." Blake responded.

"Okay…so where else could they be?"

"I doubt they'd be studying; I wouldn't feel up to it after what happened tonight." Weiss complained.

"You're not up to studying? Who are you and what did you do with the real Weiss?" Yang asked jestingly.

"Hey, I don't always study all the time!"

"Sure, you do." Yang muttered sarcastically.

"Why I ought to-"

"Girls." Blake intervened, "Why don't we just head back to the dorm and give them a call on their scrolls, they couldn't have gone far."

"Alright." Yang said with a nod.

"Fine." Weiss said with a roll of her eyes.

Blake entered was first to reach the dorm room, opening the door with a swipe of her scroll only to quickly stop and back away which caught the attention of her two teammates.

"What's up Blake- "The cat Faunus shushed the blonde brawler, and quickly jerked her head to point towards their dorm room with a small smile on her face.

The two other girls took a gander inside with a small smile forming on Weiss' face while Yang cooed a quick "Awww…" before being shushed by the two other girls. In the dorm room, laying on her bunk with the covers rolled up was Ruby but she wasn't alone as she was embracing Shinji and vice-versa. Crescent Rose was folded up and leaning against one of the walls while Bach was laying parallel to it. On the right side of the bunk Shinji's shoes laid neatly on the floor while on the left side Ruby's boots laid unlaced atop one another.

The three girls nodded to one another, quickly changing into their pajamas before turning back to the young couple. Yang and Blake brought the covers over the two of them and turned off the lights before they returned to their bunks alongside Weiss. Later that night, Ruby opened her eyes blearily, grinning gently at the sight of her lover's face before giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"I love you Shinji…" she whispered and soon afterwards she descended into Morpheus' domain sharing a small smile along with her lover as they snuggled together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was probably the most difficult plot bunny to type in word because of different issues regarding their different upbringings and personalities as well as how it would play into their relationship but I managed to find a way to work around it. 
> 
> This short was admittedly inspired by a couple of other RWBY/Evangelion stories on fanfiction.net including UKNE-12mark3's dead RWBY/ROE crossover 'RWBY: The Eva Hunter', WriterRA01's ongoing(?) NGE/RWBY crossover 'RWBY 1.0: You Can (Not) Return', and 7thmaniac's dormant(?) NGE/RWBY crossover 'SNPR'. So yeah, I had a lot of inspirations for this short.
> 
> Anyway, the next three plot bunnies will involve the other members of Team RWBY but afterwards I'll be posting the other plot bunnies I have whenever they're finished.


	2. Lonely No More

A group of Beowolves in the Emerald Forest went flying after an explosion rocketed them into the air, they fell to the ground concussed until a line of icy stalagmites shredded through one, a flurry of white projectiles froze another one solid and the last one was impaled by the working end of Myrtenaster. All of this was courtesy of Weiss Schnee. With a swerve and another surged from her glyphs she darted to the side and finished off the final Beowolf by shattering it into pieces as the other two bodies disintegrated. She gave a short huff of satisfaction before opening her scroll.

"This is Weiss, I've just finished up the last of this pack."

"We hear ya' Weiss Cream. I'm just…about…to-" Yang Xiao Long seemed to trail off for a moment before she yelled: **"YOU MONSTERS!"** The busty blonde brawler was doing alright while the same could not be said for the Grimm she was dealing with.

"Blake here, that's the last of them." The Faunus replied curtly.

"Same here on my end." Their leader replied, "Okay, I'm heading back to the rendezvous point, Weiss are you coming?"

"Yes, I'll be there shortly." The heiress replied.

"Alright then, what about you Yang?"

**"COME ON! YOU WANT SOME MORE YOU MOTHER- "**

Weiss could only imagine how much her partner was wincing right now.

"Okaayy…" Ruby nervously drawled, "Blake, um, go check on Yang please."

"On it."

Weiss shook her head, partially in annoyance and partly in some semblance of amusement. She had to admit she was not expecting her team to be so…rambunctious at first. She thought she would have been a better leader than Ruby, but Professor Port set her straight and though they still were not friends at the time they were on slightly better terms. However, then there was the conflict between her and Blake which not only revealed the latter to be a Faunus but also the fact she was a former member of the White Fang. Since her family and company had been subject to attacks by them for years after they turned violent, she thought her disdain was reasonable. However, after the whole incident involving Roman Torchwick, The White Fang and a Shipment of Schnee Dust Company dust from Atlas at the docks she had decided to give her the benefit of a doubt, uncaring of her heritage as a Faunus.

Still though despite the tensions and revelations and Oum-knows-what-else she has had to deal with from her team, she would not have it any other way. Though there was a small part of her that sought something more than what she had with her friends, something more romantic and…intimate. Unfortunately, so far this semester the only boys (as well as a few girls) who have been interested in her were doing it because of her status rather than herself as a person. The only exception to that would be Jaune Arc, the leader of Team JNPR but he was more of a nuisance than anything not to mention she saw how Pyrrha looked at him at times, so she continued to ignore and reject his advances.

She sighed to herself, she would have more time to think about that later. Right now, she needed to head to the rendezvous point and meet up with her partner.

However, before she could make her way there, she heard a rumble, not unlike the crackle of thunder in the air. _'What was that?'_ she inwardly asked. She stopped and looked around; the sky seemed to be clear for the most part except for-

She looked up in the air and saw what appeared to be a small funnel of clouds forming in the air as red light glowed angrily behind it.

"Uh, guys?" Yang asked through her scroll, "Are you seeing this?"'

"Uh, yeah. What is it?" Ruby asked in uncertainty.

"I'm not sure but Blake is recording it just in case." Yang responded.

"Weiss, are you okay?"

The clouds were darkening, the light slowly fading to orange as a faint strobe of white occurred.

"Weiss?"

Weiss grabbed her scroll and quickly answered.

"I see it, I'm almost underneath it."

"Can you see anything inside of it?" Ruby asked.

"No, nothing but." There was another flash. "Wait, something is happening to it."

And another.

"Blake are you still-?"

And another.

"I'm getting it."

"I-" Weiss never got to finish as she heard an almost metallic mechanical roar inside the cloud as it expanded and then suddenly it swirled about and then it burst with a surge of an orange fluid dissipating from beneath it.

"Weiss, are you okay?!"

"I'm fine but- "

"Something fell out of it; I can't see what it is!" Blake exclaimed on her scroll. Weiss kept her eyes up in the air and sure enough there was something or rather someone falling out of the sky.

"It's a person!" Weiss yelled. Quickly, she conjured a set of glyphs that helped her move forward underneath the falling person and with a flick of her wrist and a swift stroke from Myrtenaster she conjured another glyph beneath the person, slowing their descent.

"Did you-?" Ruby began to ask.

"I got them." Weiss said.

The person in question was floating not falling towards the ground and soon the Schnee Heiress managed to get a good luck at the person she saved. It was a boy, probably two years Ruby's junior with Mistralian features and straight medium-length brown hair. He was wearing some sort of high-tech blue and white skin-tight rubber suit and a matching blue pair of…hair clips? No, after further examination the heiress found that it was some sort of headset. She felt his forehead, no fever but he was clammy and cold to the touch. She lowered herself onto her knees and placed the boy gently on the ground, she pressed her ears to his chest-

**THUMP-THUMP!**

It was a slow pulse, a faint sign of life.

She heard the familiar sound of rose petals swooshing through the air and turned to see her Partner Ruby Rose with Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna trailing behind her.

"A kid?" Yang asked with wide eyes.

"Is he-?" Ruby asked, covering her mouth.

"He's alive but he won't be for long unless we do something." Weiss said, she scrambled to stow Myrtenaster to her side.

"I'll have Professor Goodwitch call a Medevac." Ruby grabbed her scroll and zoomed a little way back.

She barely heard what Ruby had said on her scroll before she returned.

"Professor Goodwitch is on her way with a medevac bullhead."

"What's her ETA?" Weiss asked.

"Twenty minutes at the earliest maybe thirty if there are delays." Ruby said.

"That's not enough time!" Weiss snapped, "He won't survive that long- "

Weiss paused for a moment.

"Unless…"

"Weiss?"

Kneeling back down to the boy, Weiss placed her right hand on the boy's forehead and the other on his heart. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"For it is in loneliness that we achieve immortality."

"Is she-?" Yang asked, only to be silenced by Blake who nodded as Weiss' aura flared in front of them.

"Through this, we become a paragon of empathy and resoluteness through hardship and strife."

Ruby's eyes widened at the sight of a faint cool glow surrounding the boy.

"Infinite in understanding and unbound by ignorance, I release your soul and offer my guidance to thee."

The grey-blue glow surrounding the boy brightened, matching the intensity of Weiss' aura. The boy gasped, before he slowly exhaled, and his breathing became stable. The heiress again putting her ear to his chest, she heard the normal rhythmic thumping of his chest. Then the boy began gagging and coughing at which point Weiss gently rolled him onto his right side and then he coughed up the same orange fluid that came out of the portal he emerged from.

He wheezed in and out after the fluid exited his system, his eyes half open as he was gently placed on his back.

"W-Where- "He slurred out tiredly, his hand right hand weakly reaching out to the sky. In response the heiress grabbed the limb and enclosed it in hers.

"Rest." Weiss said to him, "You're going to be alright."

She began gently stroking the back of the boy's hand with her index finger, her crystal blue eyes met his dull grey-blue ones. Slowly the boy nodded off just as her ears caught the sound of jet engines and the shadow of a Bullhead slowly descended before them.

Immediately she bent down to cradle the boy in her arms as she and her team proceeded to the bullhead. Immediately the medics took the boy off her hands and settled him into a stretcher nearby. As Professor Goodwitch began debriefing them, Weiss couldn't help but wonder about the lingering feeling she had during the time she unlocked his aura and shortly afterwards.

It felt different but it was not bad it was…surprisingly pleasant and she did not know why.

* * *

Ozpin had seen, done, and experienced many things over the many lifetimes and reincarnations during his long war with his former lover turned enemy of mankind Salem. But meeting someone from another world was something entirely new to him.

It was only two days ago that Team RWBY had been on a training mission under the watch of his second-in-command and headmistress Glynda Goodwitch. After completing the mission, a strange portal above had formed. At first, his thoughts went to his former student and ally Raven Branwen but after reviewing the footage that Blake Belladonna had recorded on her scroll and cross-referencing it with recordings of Raven Branwen's semblance he could confirm without a doubt that these were two different phenomena.

The most shocking thing out of all this was that a person had emerged from it, one that Weiss Schnee had managed to save from death two times, first from the fall following his emergence and secondly by unlocking his aura after she found he was already near death to begin with.

Immediately after they returned, the boy was brought to the infirmary and kept under watch until he was identified and returned to his family. However, it was during their first attempts to identify him that complications arose. There weren't any matches after repeated searches through the CCT network, something that while unusual wasn't unheard of considering how many were born outside of the kingdoms and by extension out of reach from the CCT such as with nomadic traders or bandit tribes. The blood analysis was the biggest anomaly though as there was not a match to anyone in the system nor was there any results for anyone who might be related to him. That was an impossibility, there should've been at least one relative on that list regardless of their distance or their status as the family trees of most if not all families inside and outside of the kingdoms were catalogued in the CCT since its inception following the great war and they were constantly updated when their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and so on and so forth were born.

That left Ozpin and his staff with the belongings the kid had on hand when he emerged from the portal. The first being the suit he wore, it was obviously man-made, and it contained a life-support system, defibrillator, and vital signs monitoring system, and it seemed to work in tandem with the headset the boy wore. Speaking of the headset, it was originally mistaken for a pair of hairclips until they were removed at which point, they noticed the small wounds that were left on the boy's scalp. Apparently, it was some sort of invasive brain or nerve interface device that was remarkably similar to technology that Atlas had experimented with in the past but significantly more advanced. Both had traces of an unidentified fluid which was presumed to be some sort of liquid breathing analogue as well as their own respective data recording and storage apparatuses. The recordings found inside of the devices revealed his origins and his identity. Ikari Shinji, a fourteen-year-old boy who piloted a giant robot called an Evangelion to fight off massive eldritch entities known as angels in the city of Tokyo-3 on the planet known as Earth.

The boy was an anomaly, one that unwillingly found himself flung into remnant with no way back to his homeworld. The only option he had was starting life anew here on Remnant, something that Ozpin was more than willing to help the boy do.

"Headmaster Ozpin?" He shook his head, the voice of Glynda Goodwitch interrupting his thoughts about this unknown territory he found himself in.

"Yes, Miss Goodwitch?" He asked the headmistress.

"I just received word that Shinji Ikari has awoken."

"I see…Miss Goodwitch would you care to accompany me?" He asked, "I believe it is time we talked to him face-to-face."

* * *

_'Another unfamiliar ceiling…'_

That was the first thought that came to his mind when he awoke, then upon realizing he was not in one of NERV's hospitals or back in Misato's Apartment he scrambled awake. He was confused at first, wondering where he was until it all came back to him.

He remembered piloting Unit-01 to fight the latest angel, one that had formed some sort of dark shadow below the Eva that sucked it inside. He didn't know how long he was trapped inside but it was lonely, dark, cold and he became hungry and thirsty. He just about gave up when he lost heating and oxygen but then he was enveloped in light and warmth before he blacked out. The next thing he remembered was faintly hearing a women chanting and then something from her flowing into him which brought him back into the world of the living, only being able to get a glimpse of a blue sky above before he coughed out the remnants of LCL in his guts. The last thing he saw and heard was a beautiful girl with blue eyes and white hair telling him to rest as some sort of aircraft encroached his view of the skies.

Shaking his head, he sat up to look around. He found himself in what looked to be some sort of school infirmary with a row of beds across from him, all of which had small nightstands to their right with small lamps, and folded privacy screens next to them. He looked to his right and left and found himself in a matching row, though he noted that to his left he had a IV Drip wired into his left arm and next to him on his night stand he saw a small bouquet of flowers. All in all, it felt oddly cozy to him compared to the sterility of NERV's medical facilities.

"Oh, you're awake." He turned to his left to see a woman with mocha-colored skin, red-pink eyes and red-pink hair tied into bun via a hair pin behind her head. She was wearing a white short-sleeve button-up lab coat over a black dress with black latex over-the-elbow gloves covering part of the sleeves, black thigh-high latex high-heeled boots, stockings, and a pair of safety goggles over her eyes.

"How are you feeling?" She asked with a small smile on her face.

"A bit tired." He did not sound as hoarse as he did after engagements with the angels which was odd. "Where am I?"

"You're in the infirmary of Beacon Academy." She said as she approached, carefully removing the IV Drip from his arm. "You're lucky Team RWBY and Glynda Goodwitch found you when you did. You were on your last legs until Miss Schnee unlocked your aura."

Beacon Academy? Unlocked aura? None of those terms rang a bell at all, did he end up somewhere outside of Tokyo-3?

"Oh, where are my manners." She chided herself, "My name is Professor Peach."

Though he wasn't sure whether to trust this woman at first, Shinji thought she was pleasant and friendly enough.

"Ikari Shinji, it's a pleasure to meet you Peach-sensei."

"Charmed." She replied, "Here's a fresh change of clothes for you." She handed the boy a bag with a set of clothes for him. "The headmaster wanted to meet you as soon as you woke up so, go ahead and get dressed and I'll take you to him. Okay?"

"R-Right." Shinji responded, after which the women unfolded the privacy screen for him. "Let me know when you're ready."

Shinji gave a hum of understanding in response before he started getting dressed. Instead of his usual outfit which consisted of a white button-up t-shirt and dress pants was given a navy-blue hoodie with a matching T-Shirt, and matching sweatpants.

"You good to go?" Peach asked after he stepped out from behind the screen, at which point he nodded.

"Follow me." She said. Shinji quietly observed his surroundings as he followed the professor and for a school it was huge campus that almost resembled medieval castles and fortresses from those western movies that he saw with Misato and Asuka with tall towers, halls, dormitories, and walls lined with banners and greenery with the centerpiece being massive and tall tower with several glowing green orbs near the top of it. He almost lost track of Professor Peach from the sight of it all. He took note of teens and young adults that were four years his senior or older, some wearing preppy maroon and black school uniforms while others wore more casual outfits with bits of armor and what appeared to be weapons ranging from swords to firearms to others that were unidentifiable on their person. Eventually they made it to the central tower, passing by a group of four students, two girls and two boys with the scraggly-looking blonde boy with blue eyes leading them.

"Morning Professor Peach!" The blonde said.

"Good Morning Mister Arc and Team JNPR." She said cordially.

Team JNPR? Another question for later, Shinji supposed. Soon they made it a smaller hall with a sign in front that said, "Staff Offices." She knocked on one of the doors.

"Come in." Another female voice, this one more sounding older and a bit more refined.

When they entered, he found himself in a white office that had several bookshelves as well as a set of file cabinets to Shinji's left, to his right was a doorway to another room with shelves inside that were partially obscured by the cracked door. In the center of the room was desk, with the owner standing from her seat while another man in one of the two chairs across from it stood up. The women was a beautiful middle-aged blonde with her hair tied into a bun with a small curl on the side of her face, green eyes with ovular glasses in front of them, a white pleated keyhole top, a black high waisted pencil-skirt with bronze buttons, a cape with a purple gradient that faded into black, dark brown stockings, and black boots. The man on the other hand was the same age as the blonde with silver hair and brown eyes. He had glasses with brown shaded lenses, a black suit jacket over a green buttoned vest with a matching shirt, pants, scarf, and a black pair of trouser shoes. He had an ornate cane with what appeared to be clockwork inside of the handle which was in his left hand while he set a mug full of hot cocoa on the desk with his right.

"Thank you for bringing our guest here Professor Peach. We'll take it from here."

The professor gave a hum of affirmation and a nod, and left the room closing the door silently behind her.

"Please have a seat." The blonde said as she gestured to the open seat. Across from the older gentlemen. He nodded and hesitantly took a seat. At which point the other gentlemen stood up and cleared his throat before he began to speak.

"Shinji Ikari, you're a long way from home, aren't you?" The man asked.

 _'So, I'm not in Tokyo-3 anymore.'_ Shinji thought, though it still did not answer the question of where he was.

"I am Headmaster Ozpin, and this is Beacon Academy with me is my assistant and headmistress Glynda Goodwitch."

"It's nice to meet you both."

"Indeed." Glynda Goodwitch responded.

"You are probably wondering where you are and how you got here am I correct?"

"Y-Yes." The teen responded, "Do you know how I can get back to Tokyo-3 and get in contact with NERV? They're probably looking for me as we speak."

That is when the man sat back down.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Ikari I'm afraid there is no way for you to return to Tokyo-3, Japan or even your homeworld Earth for that matter."

"How come, it's- "Shinji paused, the statement regarding his homeworld being processed in his head once more before his eyes widened once more.

"Once again, you are long way from home." Ozpin repeated, "Glynda if you would please."

The women nodded, pressing a button on her desk, a set of blinds covering the window behind her as a holographic screen unfolded in front of it.

"This footage was recorded during your arrival here."

Immediately the screen flickered before showing a shaky view going from a grassy ground below to the sky, where a red funnel of clouds was spiraling about in the sky. Shinji stood up slowly and watched as it faded to orange and then strobed white, flashed, before it spat out spray of LCL and then he saw himself in the footage, falling from the sky before it was paused.

Ozpin continued, "This was footage found in your headset and your suit that was taken prior to your arrival."

It started back in Tokyo-3 showing him in the cockpit of Unit-01 as it stormed forward, he barely acknowledged the voices of Misato, Ritsuko, Rei and Asuka in the background as things went to hell as the angel disappeared and he sank into its "Shadow" crying out for help all the while.

The view of Tokyo-3 was replaced with the dark red void that was the interior of the angel. Glynda Fast-forwarded the footage skipping past the boy begging for help and the trauma that he experienced all the while until they resumed it at the part where he lost hope, near the end there was a white flash before the footage cut into static and then into him falling from the portal after which Glynda stopped the recording.

Shinji had fallen to his knees at this point, shell-shocked at what he just witnessed. As the headmaster had said he was a long way from home not just away from Tokyo-3 and NERV but from Earth as a whole.

"I-I…" He did not know what to say. Out of everything he has gone through at NERV this took the cake. He was out of their reach and there was no way for him to return home either. _'I can't go back. The angel sent me here and if it is dead then I probably can't go back either. What am I going to do now? What am I going to do? What am I going to do? I can't run away because I have nowhere else to go!'_

Glynda had a frown on her face, feeling pity for the young boy while Ozpin seeing that he was on the midst of a mental breakdown grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Mister Ikari."

The boy turned around to face him, hoping he did not see the tears that were beginning to form on his face. The man's face was calm and composed while his voice was softer and almost kinder.

"I realize that this a shock for you as much as it is for us. This is the first time in Remnant's history that we have encountered someone beyond this world. We aren't heartless nor are we unaware of how much you've suffered while piloting that machine, The Evangelion was it?"

Shinji slowly nodded in response as Glynda offered him a tissue to dry his tears.

"It is obvious that you've obviously been through much for the past seventy-two hours and while I know this may be unfortunate for you, as Headmaster of this academy I do have a significant amount of influence in the kingdom of Vale and I will do everything I can to help you."

"How?" The boy asked hollowly.

The man stood up, offering a hand to stand him up as well which the boy reluctantly accepted as he stood back up.

"While we obviously can't send you home, we can however give you a fresh start here on our world of Remnant."

"R-Really?" The boy asked, both professors noting the spark of hope in his voice and eyes.

"Yes." This time Glynda Goodwitch answered, "We will need to add your identification to the CCT system, and you will need to take a diagnostic test to measure your level of general education. Though after both are completed, we will begin supplementing your education as either a civilian or a huntsman in the Kingdom of Vale."

"Huntsmen?" The boy asked curiously.

That is when Ozpin opened his scroll and propped it on the desk next to the boy.

"Despite the fact we on Remnant are living in an age of peace and prosperity there a still those who would threaten that peace."

He pressed a button that showed an image of a green-eyed ginger male with a bowler cap, a fancy suit and a cane committing an armed robbery,

"There are local threats to each kingdom such as criminal organizations or individuals such as seen here…"

The headmaster pressed another button showing a group of rough-looking men and women wielding nasty-looking weapons and patchwork armor.

"…to bandit tribes and other dangerous groups that threaten settlements outside of the kingdoms."

He flipped to another picture, this one showing an image of dark-skinned women who strangely enough had tiger ears protruding from her skull. She was sitting on a throne with two guards with similar animal-like features next to her, behind them was a white flag depicting the red growling visage of a wolf with three claws over it.

"There are also threats to all kingdoms such as the once-peaceful Faunus-rights group turned terrorist group the White Fang."

Then he flicked to another image which showed…animals or at least creatures that resembled them but they were all black, with boney mask-like faces, glowing red eyes, as well as boney spikes and other features.

"Finally, there are the Creatures of Grimm who seek only to destroy all of us, Human, Faunus, and all of our creations."

Ozpin closed the scroll and put it in his pockets.

"Huntsmen and Huntresses are elite warriors who are not only dedicated to slaying the creatures of Grimm but also have a duty to uphold the peace in our world. Beacon Academy was primarily founded to teach the next generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses. Though we also help and guide those who seek a similar or different path available to those who want it."

Shinji was intrigued. A clean slate wouldn't be bad, especially since nobody here knew of his past exploits both before and after he became an Evangelion Pilot for NERV. But he wasn't exactly sure about the idea of becoming a warrior who kills monsters for a living especially considering his encounters with the angels. On the other hand though he may have hated piloting the Eva because of the physical, mental, and emotional toll it took on him but on the other hand he did so to protect those who were precious to him like Misato, Rei, Kensuke, Touji, and even Hikari. He could start a path for an average civilian life, but would he really enjoy that? The only real skills he had was his ability to play the Cello not to mention his music literacy to go with it. It was one of the few things he enjoyed doing especially considering how therapeutic it was for him, but would he be able to make a living off it? In regards to his culinary skills, he only learned and improved upon his ability to cook because he had to feed himself on a regular basis because his sensei rarely cooked a meal for him not to mention that he did so because Misato's meals were lacking while Asuka had very specific (and sometimes expensive) tastes.

So, with those thoughts in mind he decided to explore his options.

"How would I become a huntsman?" He asked.

"First thing we would have to do is unlock your aura, though that step was already taken by one of our students to save your life. Secondly, you would need to build your own weapon and develop your own fighting style with it with our guidance. Lastly, we would need to discover your semblance and train you on how to use it."

 _'That sounds like a lot…'_ Shinji thought. Then again, he had already gone through hell training how to pilot Unit-01 so how would this be any different? While his physical fitness was decent to say the least, it wouldn't hurt to become stronger, faster, and more resilient than he was now. His weapons training was rudimentary, but he could improve upon his skills with some additional effort.

"Who would train me?"

"I would." Glynda Goodwitch replied, "I have already volunteered to be your guardian and councilor regardless of your career path. If you did choose to take up being a Huntsmen, I would be more than willing to take you under my wing as my apprentice."

"The choice is ultimately yours Mister Ikari." Ozpin said, "The road ahead will be long and harsh, are you willing to put forth the effort needed to cross it?"

If he did this there would be no turning back from this point forward. He thought about the people he treasured the most and what they would say if they were here.

 _"You can do it, Shinji-kun!"_ Misato.

 _"Give Em' Hell, Shin-man!"_ Touji.

 _"Do your best, Shinji!"_ Kensuke.

 _"You protected us Shinji-Kun so you can protect them!"_ Hikari.

 _"Good luck, Ikari-Kun."_ Rei.

With one resolute nod he had only one thing to say:

"When do we start?"

* * *

Weiss Schnee was busy studying, the end of the semester exams would be coming in the next few weeks. She personally wanted to stay ahead of the game before they finally came up with a vengeance which is why she came to the library. Normally she would've dragged her partner and team leader Ruby with her but after what had happened recently and the fact she had been working hard since the events at docks some time ago she decided to give the redheaded dolt a break. She wasn't really worried about Blake since the bookworm was natural at studying and reading between the lines. Her blonde brute of a partner however had average grades which their leader had taken note of and she had taken it upon herself to order Yang to review for the test under Blake's supervision and guidance. A small part of the heiress was honestly amused to see the youngest of the Xiao Long-Rose siblings chew out the eldest for her studying habits.

"Excuse me." Her musings were interrupted by the voice of a boy behind her.

She raised her head up, still face deep in her notes.

"Yes?"

"Do you mind if I sit there?" He gestured to the seat to her right at the end of the table.

"No, go ahead." She responded cordially, as she continued with her notes, she couldn't help but find the boy's voice familiar.

Out of her peripheral vision she saw him take the seat and drop a large stack of books on Dust Theory, Dust Applications, and the History of Dust across from her.

Then he finally sat down and pulled his seat in, at which point she caught sight of his face, one she clearly recognized from the training mission two weeks ago.

"You…"

The boy made a hum of confusion before making eye contact with her, just in time to finally recognize her. He gulped nervously before he started to speak

"Y-You're the one who saved me and unlocked my aura, aren't you?"

Weiss slowly nodded.

The boy quickly stood up from his seat surprising the heiress

"Eh?"

And then he bowed.

"Thank you so much!"

They were interrupted by the librarian clearing her throat, giving them a glare before putting her index finger on her lip to quiet them.

The boy quickly sat back down and apologized before scooting back into his seat.

"I never did get a chance to thank you for saving me." He told the heiress sheepishly who merely nodded in understanding.

"What happened to you though? The last time my teammates and I saw you was after we left a bouquet for you in the infirmary."

"Ah." He said, rubbing his shoulder nervously.

"Well, after I woke up and I was discharged I met with Headmaster Ozpin and Headmistress Goodwitch and we talked about my…circumstances here and they wanted to help me get a fresh start here."

 _'A fresh start from what, though?'_ Weiss quietly wondered. Though she quickly squashed this line of thought when Blake came to her mind.

"They offered to allow me to get an education as a civilian or a huntsman. I chose the latter so…" He shrugged, "Here I am."

"I see." Weiss once again nodded in understanding though she was a bit curious about what he did before he ended up falling out of that portal two weeks ago.

"Oh, I'm Ikari Shinji by the way."

"Weiss Schnee." The heiress replied, she noted that Shinji seemed…strangely ignorant of who she was though it wasn't the cluelessness that the leader of JNPR had but rather it was innocence more than anything. Though, she wasn't sure why he had so many books on dust with him especially since he didn't seem like the unintelligent type.

"So why all of this?" She asked, pointing at the various textbooks the boy had. At which point the boy seemed…ashamed or embarrassed.

"I took an aptitude and diagnostic test here and apparently I am way behind when it comes to anything involving dust."

Weiss raised an eyebrow at first, it was another oddity about the lad worth investigating and she just knew how to do so.

"Perhaps I can help you, I do have a significant amount of practical and theoretical knowledge regarding the use of dust after all."

The boy seemed perked up significantly after hearing that.

"I would greatly appreciate your help Schnee-Senpai."

Weiss raised her eyebrow at the use of the honorific but shrugged it off.

"Now then, where would you like to start?" She asked.

"Well, the first thing I'm having trouble with is…"

For the next two hours they would be studying and reviewing together. It was a pleasant experience for both teens, especially for the heiress who felt a flicker of that same feeling she had when she unlocked Shinji's aura while the latter felt like he made a new friend but one who was closer than Touji, Kensuke, Hikari, and Rei ever had been.

* * *

The end of the semester exams came and went quickly bring the spring semester for the first years to a close and opening various opportunities for them in the summer. Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose had chosen to return home for Summer Break to spend time with their father, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie had taken up some jobs for the summer while Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Jaune Arc, and Pyrrha Nikos had decided to take some supplemental summer courses.

Though admittedly the last four had their reasons for taking summer courses. In Jaune's case, he was playing catch up with Pyrrha helping him all the way, Blake said that she didn't have anywhere else to go during the summer, while Weiss was admittedly using it as an excuse to stay out of the clutches of her father.

Speaking of the heiress, she was currently enjoying one of the few days in the summer semester with a walk through the campus gardens. Last night she had sent a pair of messages, one for her father Jacques Schnee and one for her older sister Winter Schnee. The one for her father took a business-like tone and was an exchange of the usual pleasantries (if she could even call them that) and a brief report on her academic status. The one for her sister on the other hand was more cordial and while she reiterated her academic status to her, she also went into her social life, her teammates, and her emotional state. While her eldest sister would more than likely be slow to respond due to her work as an Atlesian Specialist, she knew her father's response would come sooner rather than later.

For the moment she was taking her mind off that and enjoying the beauty of the gardens and her solitude. The latter was starting to fade away as she heard the faint sound of something melodic nearby. Having an ear and talent for music, she decided to track down the source. As she got closer she recognized that it was the sound of a bowed string instrument, it wasn't as highly-pitched as a violin but it wasn't as low-pitched as a bass leading her to conclude that it was a cello. She had reached a corner of the garden where a small artificial pond and fountain were stationed, nearby there were several stone benches and sitting on one of them playing the music was Shinji Ikari. His eyes were shut but his expression was a relaxed and free smile on his face as he seemingly was lost in the melody that he was playing.

Taking a seat on another bench she quietly listened to it, entranced by the melody. Despite how light the melody was, she couldn't help but feel that there was an undertone of melancholy to it much like some of her own music. She saw felt the wind blow through her hair as he was playing, leaves passing by both with only one of them acknowledging it with a light brush of her hair. It was almost as if the wind and nature itself were enthralled by the song. Soon the song came to an end and with few more strokes of the bow Shinji ended the melody, letting it fade away into silence.

The boy was startled by the soft applause across from him, seeing Weiss Schnee applauding him.

"Thank You, Schnee-Senpai." He said with a bashful nod.

"That was beautiful, what was the song called?"

"It's called 'Inner Light' and it was by Jay Chattaway if I remember correctly."

Weiss nodded before sheepishly scratching the back of her head.

"I'm sorry for intruding but- "

"N-No, it's fine!" The boy responded, "It's fine, you weren't bothering me. I was just playing for a bit while waiting for Goodwitch-Sensei."

Weiss was surprised to learn that Glynda Goodwitch had adopted the boy and made him her apprentice especially considering rumors about the Headmistress' stringent standards. Though if what she heard about the young Ikari was true he was soaking up all the information from the classes like a sponge albeit with some bumps along the way such as she learned with their study sessions on dust.

"So how did you do on the exams? I know you were struggling until we started studying together so I'm curious as to how you did."

The boy pulled out his scroll, flicking through it and handing it her with a quick "Take a look."

The first exam was the general education exam which was divided into sections about reading, writing, and mathematics. The first and second, he passed with solid 90% grades while the last one he passed with an 86%. The other exams were related to subjects related to the courses at beacon. For his plant science score he got an 83%, his stealth and security exam score was 77%, he was exempt from the weapon-crafting and upkeep exam, his Grimm Studies course was 88%, his history exam score was 100%, his combat evaluation score was an 79%, and his dust studies exam which Weiss was interested in the most had a score of…92%!

"Well, I'm glad to see that our studying has paid off Shinji." She said with a genuine smile.

"Well I wouldn't have passed the dust studies exam without your help Schnee-Senpai." Responded with a bashful grin on his face.

Weiss had to stifle a giggle, once again finding the boy's demeanor to be endearing to her. The sound of her scroll buzzing diverted her attention. Giving the young Ikari an apologetic glance, she pulled out her scroll and unfolded it to check her notifications only to find that…

It was her father. Her smile fell to a disappointed grimace as she began reading it. While Jacques Schnee was disappointed in the fact that she did not become a leader of her own team, he did state that her performance during the first semester was satisfactory without going into specifics. From what the heiress could tell her father wasn't expecting her to do so well but at the same time there was an undertone of displeasure about the fact she was defying him. In the last paragraph of the message he had told no, ordered her to continue her consistent work ethic with an unsaid threat of being brought back home if she failed.

She shut her scroll with a scowl on her face and a bitter sigh from her lips.

"Schnee-Senpai?"

"What?" The boy was taken aback by her sudden shift to anger and the hurt expression on his face instantly reminded the heiress she was not alone.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out that way." The girl said with a sigh of sadness, "I just received a message from my father and he…" She shook her head in disappointment, trying to get her mind off how that man had gotten under her skin

"D-Do you want to talk about it?" The boy asked, "I may not be good at giving advice, but I am good at listening if anything."

Weiss gave him a piercing look that made it seem as if the girl was prodding at his soul to determine his intentions. She sighed and sat down next to him, her partner and teammates already knew about her burdens so having another person know about it wouldn't necessarily hurt her.

"You're probably already learned that I'm the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, correct?"

Shinji simply nodded and glanced at her to continue.

"The company wasn't always the way it is now. My grandfather ran it to the best of his ability, doing so with dignity and honesty something he hoped his daughter, my mother Willow Schnee would do one day."

Weiss' forlorn expression turned to anger.

"Unfortunately, my Grandfather's health was ailing so he decided that he would need a successor in his place alongside my mother. Among one of the suitors was the man who is now my father who not only took the reins for the Schnee Dust Company but also changed his last name to Schnee."

She shook her head,

"That man…he is a selfish, power-hungry, ruthless opportunist whose actions and decisions have dragged my family's name through the mud. He cared more about the title and the power that came with it rather than my family, in fact he has rarely ever offered me genuine praise and he's never told me that he loved me much like he hasn't told my mother that he loved her either."

She sighed again, trying to prevent her eyes from watering,

"Everything he has done since he took over the company has hurt people. The reason why most if not all our competitors were run out of business was because of him. The reason why all the Faunus workers either in the mines or elsewhere in the company were treated as cheap, expendable labor was because of him. The reason why we are considered the bane of Faunus worldwide including the likes of extremists such as the White Fang is because of him. All the other baggage and controversies that have earned us scorn and disgust alike was because of him. The reason why I have been so lonely, why I have had no friends outside of my family was all. Because. Of. Him."

Weiss took a shuddering breath to calm herself, using a handkerchief to dap out the tears that were forming in the inner edges of her closed eyes. She opened her eyes, no longer angry and broken but now resolute.

"My older sister Winter Schnee was once the heiress to the company before me but instead of bowing to my father's wants and needs while she was at Atlas Academy, she chose to become an Atlesian Specialist. She and my mother have been the only two people who've legitimately cared about me, in fact I still receive letters from the former while the latter…"

The Schnee trailed off and sighed again.

"Anyway, I decided to become a huntress to bring honor and integrity back to my family and our company even if it meant it was against my father's interests. If I can protect and save people and prove that I am nothing like my father then maybe, just maybe I can undo the wrongs that he's done."

It felt good to get that all off her chest, but the heiress wanted to go back on her walk just to get her mind off things.

"Excuse me." She said cordially, as she stood up.

"My parents were both scientists." Weiss' head whipped back around, seeing the boy in front of her but now…he looked more vulnerable and she saw sadness and at the same time sympathy- No, the look in his eyes didn't indicate he was sympathetic but rather…there was a familiarity in his eyes that lead her to her eyes widening when it suddenly clicked. Had he been in a similar situation to her? _'How?'_ Weiss wondered.

"When I was five-years old they were doing a lab experiment and my mother died because of it." Shinji started curling inward into a fetal position, something that caused a twinge of heartache in Weiss' chest.

"Shortly afterwards my father abandoned me." Weiss just gaped as the boy continued, "I-I ended up being raised by an instructor my father hired but for years I was under his care I didn't feel any sort of love or affection. The only thing he did was help me learn how to cook and he also reluctantly taught me how to play my mother's Cello. It was pretty dull and monotonous for a while until a few months ago."

Weiss listened; She knew her father truly didn't love her and to hear that someone else had a father who treated them same way it felt uncanny to her.

"I got a letter from my father who had become the leader of this organization called NERV and he told me to come to see him. At first I thought maybe we would reconcile after all of these years."

She saw a smidge of hope on his face until it faded away,

"I was wrong instead he- "

He shook his head as he struggled to speak, eyes watering on the sides of his face.

"H-He asked me to- "

Weiss immediately sat next to him, awkwardly trying to comfort him with a light grasp of the boy's shoulder but it only seemed to briefly break him from his stupor. The heiress dared not to ask what his father did to the former pilot, the only conclusion she come to was that it could be some sort of abuse. While she had faced a fair bit of corporeal punishment from her father for misbehaving, she hadn't been face any sort of true physical, emotional, verbal, or worse…sexual abuse from him.

"I-I want to tell you more but…I-I can't…at least not here, anyway." Whatever Shinji's father had him do it was probably something that had traumatized the poor boy. Weiss

"Shinji." The heiress muttered softly, feeling dreadfully sorry for him.

"All I've ever wanted was to be loved and to have him say he was proud of me but…he never has and I'm not sure if he ever would." He said with tears slowly rolling down his face.

The next thing he felt was a warm embrace.

"Schnee-Senpai?"

The older girl just hugged him tighter, the warmth of the action sending a pleasant fluttering feeling up in his chest that made him instinctively return the gesture which made a similar sensation go through her own chest. When they finally separated, Weiss offered her handkerchief to him which he accepted and wiped the tears of his face.

"Thank you, Weiss…"

The girl chuckled bitterly, a small grimace on her face.

"If anything, I should be thanking you Shinji, I personally never thought I'd meet someone with circumstances similar to mine to be honest."

The boy nodded in agreement.

"Listen I do wish I could tell you more…"

Weiss was about to kindly decline; she did not want to cause him anymore discomfort.

"…But Goodwitch-Sensei wants me to keep it a secret."

 _'What?'_ Her mind immediately went back to Blake revealing that she was once a member of the White Fang, something that had burned a bridge between them in the middle of the prior semester.

"I think she might be able to make an exception though." He continued with a sigh.

"You already know that I am her apprentice and her ward so if you do want to know more, I suggest you come to Goodwitch-sensei's residence in Vale and we'll tell you everything."

The boy immediately grabbed his cello and left but not before giving Weiss one last lingering look of…fear? Something the heiress found odd at first. She decided to return to the dorms for now, she had a lot to think about. She also decided that she would talk to Blake about whether to go through with this or not.

Hopefully, whatever secret Shinji and his mentor/guardian was hiding wouldn't be as bad as Blake's own secret. Little did she know how wrong she was.

* * *

Beacon Academy had its fair share of secrets, something Glynda Goodwitch was all too familiar with. The most vital ones she knew of was the truth about Ozpin and his multi-century-long war with Salem, the existence of the four maidens, the existence of the relics, and more recently the origins of one Shinji Ikari.

She and Ozpin had spoken to the pilot turned huntsmen-in-training and had made the boy swear to if not keep the truth of his origins a secret then at least keep it between as few people as possible. If word got out that a boy from another world had arrived on Remnant, at first it would be dismissed as a load of humbug. However, if the recordings from his plugsuit, his nerve interface headset, or even both made its way to the public some of the most important, powerful, and influential people in Remnant would have their eyes and ears pointed towards him.

One of those people if she could be referred to as such anymore was the Grimm Queen Salem. One worst case scenario was that Salem would view the young Ikari as an interloper and would seek to have him eliminated. Another one was that Salem, or her pawns would try to sway him to her side, though considering what little the young Ikari disclosed about his past especially regarding how his father had manipulated him it was extremely unlikely he would want to join them. The last and probably the most dangerous scenario of them all was that Salem would want him brought back alive to try and find a way to access and more than likely invade his world.

Under no circumstances should any of those events be allowed to happen.

However, Glynda was surprised to hear that Shinji wanted to reveal the truth to someone. She was about to grill the young boy over the risks and danger of doing so until he told her that he had wanted to tell Weiss Schnee at which point things began to make sense. She knew that they had become friends after they began studying and reviewing together near the end of semester which was encouraging especially considering how the handful of other students, he met were considered acquaintances at best. But when he talked about their meeting earlier today, she finally had an understanding as to why he wanted to do so. She could not wrong her apprentice for his empathy and compassion as both were qualities of true huntsmen and huntresses after all. Also, the headmistress had a feeling that there was something more intimate between the two of them would develop but that she couldn't say for sure.

So, Glynda reluctantly decided to allow the young Ikari to reveal his past to the Schnee heiress after she arrived at their residence late at night. Of course, the headmistress had immediately made her swear to keep everything a secret unless there were dire circumstances that demanded otherwise. The heiress hesitantly accepted and after that Shinji told her the truth. He told her about how he had come from another world called Earth, one where neither the Grimm nor the Faunus existed. A world without dust as a source of energy, a world without a broken moon, and a world where the only threat to humanity was itself. That is until the year before he was born. An expedition by a group of scientists to the North Pole lead to the discovery of a primordial entity known as Adam, the first of the so-called Angels as they were called on his world. An experiment involving the entity had caused a cataclysmic event known as Second Impact which had damaged the planet's climate, caused a dramatic rise of sea levels, and had led to the deaths of billions of people either from the actual disaster itself or the war and strife that followed.

His parents were involved with Project E, the project behind the construction of the synthetic humanoid evangelions, an advanced weapons system meant to combat the angels when they returned. His mother had died because of the contact experiment with Unit-01 which became the catalyst for him being abandoned by his father. When his father had called for him to come to Tokyo-3 when he was fourteen he was essentially being told to pilot it without any training or prior knowledge otherwise an injured young girl and later a fellow pilot Ayanami Rei would be forced to pilot it instead. He had been a pilot for NERV since then up until the battle with the twelfth angel which had swallowed his Evangelion whole. He nearly died but then for whatever reason he ended up being spat out through that portal on that fateful training mission in the Emerald Forest.

At first Weiss was bewildered by what he had told her, to her it all sounded like something out of one of those science fiction movies that her younger brother Whitley was fond of. However, Glynda had told her otherwise and showed her proof, more specifically the recordings of Shinji piloting Unit-01 and using it to fight the angels. Weiss was shellshocked by everything that was revealed to her at first but then she started hesitantly asking questions about everything Shinji told her earlier that day and he filled in the blanks for her. Weiss thought it was despicable that the boy's father sent him away only to bring him back for a specific purpose, it was almost as if he was being treated as a tool rather than a human being! That sort of attitude reminded her a lot of her own father as well as his treatment of his own children, herself included. When she finished, all three of them were both physically and emotionally exhausted.

"So that's it…" Shinji said morosely, "I hope we can still be friends after- "

He felt himself being hugged in a tight embrace.

"S-Schnee-Senpai?" Said girl was hugging him tight…

"I am so sorry…" She hissed, "I'm so, so sorry that you had to go through all of that…you never deserved to go through any of that..."

"But-"He tried to speak again.

"None of it!" She growled.

"You deserve better than that." Weiss whispered, "You deserve the love of a family and friends that care about you…and while I can't give you the former, I can give you the latter."

Shinji relaxed in her grip and slowly he began to hug her back, "Thank you, Schnee- "He stopped, "Weiss."

They stayed like that for a moment until Glynda let them know it was getting late. Shinji retired to his own bedroom while Weiss was given the guest bedroom. As they laid down in their beds, waiting for sleep to claim them, both teens felt a peculiar feeling in their hearts that had only just begun to grow.

* * *

The Second Semester for Team RWBY and Shinji Ikari came quickly, with a massive food fight starting off in the cafeteria that eventually lead to a short if not humorous confrontation between Team RWBY and Team JNPR. Glynda scolded them all for it even though Ozpin let them off with a slap on the wrist. However, another issue came up with Blake raising her concerns about Torchwick and the White Fang working together which prompted the entire team to perform an investigation with the so-called "Junior Detectives" Sun Wukong and the newly-introduced Neptune Vasilias tagging along for the ride. Shinji caught ear of what was going on and offered his assistance as well, as he thought it would be a good way to get some combat practice in with his Progressive Machete.

Neptune and Yang went to downtown Vale to meet with Hei "Junior" Xiong at his club (the same one that Yang trashed just before the beginning of their first semester) but despite the fact they had ties in the past, Roman Torchwick hadn't contacted him in a very long time. Weiss, Ruby and Shinji went to the CCT Tower to gather information about missing SDC shipments, unfortunately the young redhead got sidetracked when she met up with Penny again and it was only a little bit later that the heiress and the ex-pilot had found her again just in time for Blake and Sun to call in. Speaking of the two Faunus, Sun and Blake were investigating a White Fang rally undercover, surprised to stumble upon Roman Torchwick being there as well as the fact that he had managed to steal a few of the Atlesian Paladins for their use, however when Torchwick saw Blake in the crowd she and Sun were forced to cut the power to the warehouse and flee with Torchwick trailing behind him in the Atlesian Mech.

Neptune and Sun had gotten lost during this engagement but Team RWBY and Shinji Ikari managed to get the thief to come down to a street where they managed to barely fight him off, it was Yang however that tore the Atlesian Paladin apart when her semblance kicked, throwing the thief out of the mech just in time for Vale Police Department reinforcements led by Glynda Goodwitch (Whom Shinji called in earlier) to take him in, though they nearly lost him when his sidekick Neo tried to whisk him away to freedom. While Glynda once again scolded the five teens for their recklessness, she did compliment them for their initiative and did award them with a small portion of the bounty on Roman Torchwick split up between the five of them. The rest of the money…well, it was being used for dealing with whatever collateral damage that may have been caused during their fight.

They returned to Beacon, battered but for the most part unharmed. Blake went back to investigations, foregoing sleep, food, and hygiene in her efforts to dig deeper into the White Fang's activities, but Yang managed to snap her out of it and invite her to the dance. While Ruby was going to the ball with her teammates by her side, Weiss on the other hand was in the sights of two other boys though both would be surprised to what she had to say about the dance.

* * *

Weiss Schnee was walking outside, the dance would be in a couple of hours and though she hated to admit it, she did not have a date for the dance. Jaune Arc tried to serenade her with a guitar, but she had bluntly turned him down and pointed out the fact that boys were only after her for the perks. Indeed, she had several suitors in Atlas, some of whom were given blessing by her father to court her only to decline them every time because they were only interested in her because of her title, position, and her wealth.

Of course, she had to admit that the wannabe knight probably wasn't that shallow, if anything he seemed interested in her looks more than anything, but she saw how Pyrrha looked at him and how she acted around him. What would it take for a boy that dense to realize that his partner was interested in him?!

"Hey Weiss!" She turned her head to see Neptune Vasilias coming up to her.

"Ah, Neptune. What can I do for you?" She asked politely.

"Not much, I was just wondering if you had a date for the ball yet."

"No, I don't. Why?"

"Well…I was kind wondering…ya' know…" The blue-haired boy from SSSN scratched the back of his head nervously.

"What?" She asked curiously.

"Would you like to be my date for the ball?" He asked.

That made her pause for a moment. She did like Neptune, he was funny, he was handsome and he wasn't interested in whatever perks she might have but as she thought about it she realized that while he did have good looks, a good sense of humor, and a nice personality, he…just didn't click with her. Winter and her Mother told her that one day she might find someone who would win her heart and she would know it when she feels it and unfortunately for Neptune while she felt an attraction for him, she didn't feel anything like what her sister and mother described.

"Thank you for asking, Neptune." She said politely, "But I must decline."

"W-What?" He asked, confusedly.

"Well, while you're fun to hang around with and you are handsome…" He smiled a little, "…I can't really see us being anything more than friends to be honest." She finished, making him frown a little.

"Oh, okay." He said, disappointedly. "Thanks anyway though." He finished, before leaving.

Weiss sighed to herself. She hated turning him down but hopefully he'd find someone else to take her place.

"Hey Weiss."

She clicked her tongue in frustration at the sound of Jaune Arc's voice.

"What do you want this time, Arc?" She asked, if he was trying to court her again, she was going to bring the hammer down on him.

"Listen, I'm sorry for trying to flirt with you and you know trying to serenade you earlier this morning. They were…" He paused, "Oum I suck at this." She heard him mutter under his breath, she cleared her throat to catch his attention.

"Anyway, I-" He sighed again, "Look, I know you think I'm annoying after all the times I've tried to flirt with you, the nicknames, the gimmicks and everything but I'm not after you because your position, your money, or anything like that."

"Oh really?" She asked with genuine albeit cautious curiosity in her voice. True, his attempts to woe her were annoying but the fact that he was willing to truthfully admit he wasn't after because of that earned him a few points in her book. "Then why were you so persistent about it?"

She wanted to probe deeper, get to know why this blonde dunderhead was after her.

"B-Because you're beautiful, a-and graceful, a-and smart, a-and you're a better fighter than I am!"

 _'Color me impressed.'_ She thought.

"S-So yeah, I'm sorry to ask you again but…would you be my date for the ball?" He asked, holding up a beautiful blue flower to her. Weiss had to admit she was floored by Jaune, someone who she considered a doofus at best to be so…honest with her. Perhaps she misjudged him all the time he has been at Beacon.

"Jaune…" She started, "I appreciate your honesty and I appreciate the fact you're willing to admit your attempts at wooing me were more annoying than anything." The blonde winced a little.

"That being said however, I must decline."

"W-What?" He stopped, his face falling into a frown, flower falling out of his hands as he started to turn around crestfallen. Weiss sighed,

"Wait." She gritted out.

The boy stopped and turned around, looking at her with a look of worry, sadness, and dare she say a tiny sliver of hope.

"You are a good man, Jaune Arc. You may be dense, clumsy, and a doofus at times." The blonde winced once again, looking a bit hurt, "But you are a good man. In fact, I'm going to do you a favor and tell you that there is at least one girl with her eyes on you."

"W-Wait, really? Who?"

She chuckled a bit, "Pyrrha Nikos."

"Pyrrha?!" Jaune asked, chuckling and scratching the back of his head, "The champion and 'invincible girl' is interested in me?"

He looked to see Weiss' deadpan expression.

"Yes, in fact I would like to tell you that she still doesn't have a date yet."

"Really?" He asked, "I thought there would be a line of guys asking to be her date- "

"She declined them all."

"Eh?"

"She declined them all." She repeated, "She doesn't want any old guy, she wants **YOU**." She emphasized that with a poke to his chest.

Jaune didn't know how to respond or what to say.

"Just ask her yourself, I guarantee you won't regret it." She said with a small smile.

"Gee, uh, Thanks, Weiss…I, uh…" He cleared his throat awkwardly stepping back,

"Just go, you dunce." She said with an exasperated chuckle.

He nodded, and then quickly ran off. She continued her walk and sure enough when she passed the dorm building, she heard a certain spartan squeal in delight while a certain knight yelped in surprise. She chuckled and shook her head in amusement, it sounded like Pyrrha was happy and that meant a long-time nuisance was also dealt with. She inwardly wondered however, who she would ask to the ball because she couldn't recall feeling anything akin to what her sister and mother described with anyone except maybe-

She paused and when it came to her, she turned around and made her way back to the ballroom. When she got there, she saw her target laying down the last of the food he had prepared.

"Shinji?" She called; the boy looked to her.

"Weiss?"

"I'm sorry, am I bothering you or- "

"No, No, No! You're fine, I was just setting the last hotpot here and plugging it in for later tonight."

"I see."

Weiss gulped, it was now or never.

"Shinji." She called his name again.

"I was wondering, did you have a date for the dance?" It was apparently a bad question because the boy looked downtrodden, she winced and inwardly facepalmed for her lack of tact.

"No, I don't unfortunately." He said, "I mean a lot of girls did ask me out but the first thing they did when they saw me was ask me if I was Goodwitch-Sensei's apprentice and they seemed more interested in the fact I was training under her and they just brought up how much of a privilege, honor, or how lucky I was to be her apprentice. They didn't want to know anything about me, though." He said sadly.

"I see." Weiss clicked her tongue in disgust, of course where there were individuals like Neptune and Jaune who weren't shallow enough to ask someone out because of the potential perks, there were others that were and unfortunately Shinji seemed to have run into a number of those types of girls.

"I don't really mind though." The ex-pilot said, trying to change the subject, "Is there anything else you need?" he asked.

Weiss took a deep breath in and then a deep breath out,

"Weiss?" He asked but then she grabbed his hands and held them in her own

"Shinji Ikari, would you like to be _my_ date for the dance?" Shinji looked shell-shocked at first, though Weiss saw something akin to hope in his eyes as he gulped nervously before finally answering "I…would be honored." He finished as both of them had small smiles on their faces.

* * *

The dance went better than expected for both Shinji Ikari and Weiss Schnee, as both effortlessly glided throughout the hall to the waltz being played, they weren't the only pair either as they managed to catch a glimpse of Pyrrha and Jaune also dancing together brought a smile to their faces, not to mention the sight of Blake enjoying herself with Sun and Yang was another positive. However, Ruby went missing near the end of the dance after she spotted an intruder heading for the CCT Tower. While cleared of wrongdoing, Ruby was rather upset to not have the chance to catch the one responsible. Other then that, everything went well that night.

The next several days however turned out to be interesting as student teams were assigned to a professor and sent outside of the kingdoms for missions with Team RWBY being assigned to the ruins of Mount Glenn with Professor Oobleck while Shinji was assigned to Vale with Headmistress Goodwitch. Needless to say, it lead to what was what referred to as "The Breach" where members of the White Fang sped a train through the underground tunnels of Mount Glenn through Vale, leading Grimm into the city. Thankfully, there were plenty of student huntresses and huntsmen on the scene to help prevent what could've been a full-up invasion of Grimm with the breach being sealed thanks to the telekinetic abilities of Glynda Goodwitch.

Afterwards, Team RWBY, Team JNPR, and Shinji were given time to train and rest up for the upcoming tournament. However, they were all called in by Professor Port to investigate an issue with Beacon's security network which led to them discovering heavily modified Grimm which were the works of the long-thought-dead Dr. Merlot. After tracking the man down to his island, destroying all his laboratory and taking down a nasty mutated Deathstalker they escaped back to Beacon just in time for the tournament to begin.

Team RWBY's first match was against Team ABRN from haven which they won without any issues, the same went for Team JNPR's match against Team BRNZ. It was shortly afterwards though that Weiss caught sight of an airship coming in near Amity Colosseum and with Shinji and Ruby in tow, decided to go meet her at Beacon.

* * *

Winter Schnee had to admit that despite the brawl she had with that drunken ruffian Qrow Branwen, she was doing better now that she got to meet her sister again though she did have concerns about her teammates. One of them was a skilled yet naïve prodigy from the island of patch, her rough-housing adrenaline junkie of a sister, and an ex-member of the White Fang. However, Winter dismissed those concerns when she saw how much Weiss had grown at Beacon.

Though when Winter had brought up her amusement at seeing their father's face when Weiss left for Beacon, Weiss looked nervous.

"What's the matter?" Winter asked out of concern.

Weiss looked away and sighed, "It's something I want to keep from father."

That was different, while Weiss had done her best to live up to the image of being the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, something Winter once did long ago to hear her want to keep a secret from the man meant something had changed, possibly for the better in the specialist's opinion.

"Well, as your aware father and I aren't on good terms so whatever secret you may have is safe with me." She said, "Unless it endangers the safety of the kingdoms of course."

"Winter!" Weiss whined, earning a soft chuckle from her older sister. "My apologies, Weiss…now what is it you want to tell me?" Winter asked.

Weiss sighed again, reigning in her emotions before starting to speak again, "You see Winter, I met a boy in Beacon and…recently I've come to the conclusion that I…like him."

"Of course, it's nothing unusual for your age- "

"No, I mean I _like_ him…" the heiress said with emphasis.

At this point Winter got the message and she had to do everything she could to prevent her face hardening a little. Much like her younger sister, Winter had several men and even a few women try to vie for her affections, but she turned all of them down. Why? Because they were only interested in her for the power and title she held as the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company at the time as well and she went through the same thing when she became a specialist but as she climbed the ranks, those who attempted to court her eventually backed down. Winter just wanted to shield Weiss from the same thing she went through of course, but now she needed more information.

"Ah, I see…and your worried father wouldn't approve?" Winter asked, she had a fairly good idea what her younger sister's answer would be.

"Yes…" Weiss replied meekly.

"I see…may I have the boy's name?"

"It's Shinji Ikari, the boy you met after you arrived." Weiss replied.

Winter paused as she recalled what she read about him in a file that Ironwood passed down to her. He was the boy from another world who was currently the ward and apprentice of Glynda Goodwitch, one that her younger sister had saved from what could have been his death. The Atlesian Specialist could imagine Jacques Schnee's reaction to the sight of Shinji Ikari, he would be regarded as a pathetic-looking waif who was lucky enough to become an apprentice of a well-known career huntress. Winter did not see it that way and she doubted that their mother Willow Schnee would either. But were Weiss' feelings for him genuine?

"I'm curious, Weiss…. why do you like him?"

The heiress stood up, taking a glance outside from the garden café they were in.

"Shinji may not appear to be strong, but he's been through so much before he came to Beacon that it's a miracle, he hasn't broken down yet."

"So, it's out of pity?" Winter asked.

"NO!" The specialist was surprised by her younger sister's reaction, "It's more than that, he…he understands what it's like to never have the approval or love of a parent just like we do. He always stands his ground even if means he must suffer pain or rejection, both of which we've both had to harden our hearts to. He doesn't make me laugh but he makes me smile and he is intelligent, and compassionate, and whenever I'm near him it feels like I have butterflies in my stomach just like you and mother said I would when I found the right one…"

There was no doubt in Winter's mind that Weiss was in love with Shinji Ikari after hearing what she had to say about the ex-pilot.

"Weiss." Upon hearing her name, Weiss broke out of the reverie and sat back down in her seat, worrying she had embarrassed herself in front of her eldest sibling and one of her role-models. When she looked up to her sister, she had a warm and understanding smile on her face and even went further by lightly placing a palm over her hand. "Even if father doesn't approve of him, know that I will stand by you if need be."

Weiss nodded.

"Thank you, Winter."

"You're welcome." Winter replied, "Now let's see how much you've grown, shall we?"

Weiss nodded resolutely, standing up with Myrtenaster at the ready. Winter stood behind her, hands crossed behind her back, watching her.

Weiss drew upon her semblance and a glyph formed in front of her.

"Excellent Form!" Winter complemented the heiress before turning to instruct, "Now think to your fallen foes. The ones that force you to push yourself past who you were and become who you are now." Weiss closed her eyes, thoughts going back to several memorable foes such as the Atlesian Paladin, Merlot's Mutated Deathstalker, and the Arma Gigas she fought so long ago. "Think of them and watch as they come to your side." Winter instructed. Weiss continued to focus on those enemies with the possessed suit of armor being the first one she focused on, after all when she fought it a long time ago she was alone and weaker than she was now, she didn't just push herself to defeat it but also strived to go even further with the support of people she had met along the way. It was because of them that she something else besides restoring the honor of her family name and the family company as her mission.

She had friends and more who were worth fighting for.

The glyph in front of her erupted with a flash and in front of her stood a white-clad version of the Arma Gigas she had fought long ago; it stabbed its sword into the grown and bowed to her. She looked awestruck, her concentration only lapsing for a minute before she dispelled it.

Weiss panted in exhaustion as she fell to one knee, barely supporting herself up with Myrtenaster as the strain of forming the Arma Gigas was weighing on her physically and mentally.

"Well done, Weiss." Winter said her hands grasping the younger Schnee's shoulders comfortingly.

"That…took a lot of me." Weiss grunted out.

"You'll be able to handle it with time and further practice." Winter helped her up, the younger of the two stumbling a bit before regaining her balance.

They were interrupted by the sound of Weiss' buzzing scroll, the heiress pulling it out and scowling at seeing who it was. To Winter's surprise her younger sister sighed and rejected the call before holstering it. She noticed Winter's gaze and asked; "What?"

"There is something else I wish to talk about before I leave…"

* * *

The two vs. two rounds of the tournament began with Coco Adel and Yasuhashi Daichi of Team CFVY being defeated by Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai of Haven. The second round was Russell Thrush and Sky Lark of Team CRDL versus Penny Polendina and Ciel Soleil of Atlas where the latter won and the former lost. The third round was Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long of team RWBY going up against Neon Katt and Flynt Coal of Team FNKI from Atlas which proved to be more difficult than the former had thought. Flynt had a grudge against the Schnee Dust Company accusing it and by extension Weiss of running it out of business, though Weiss much to his surprise acknowledged it and even said that it quote "Sounds like something my father would do." Neon Katt on the other hand needled at Yang's appearance and insults over her weight, much to the blonde's displeasure. The fight was tough as Yang had trouble dealing with Neon Katt's speed on her skates while Flynt used his duplication semblance and weapon to overpower Weiss. After she was knocked down, Weiss saw Ruby, Blake, and Shinji cheering her on and continued to fight by summoning her Arma Gigas and despite it taking a significant beating during the fight, it managed to knock Flynt out of the arena with a bash of it's sword. Neon was distracted by that turn events, this gave Yang the opportunity she needed to turn the tables on her and defeat her with a well-placed punch into the Lava Biome.

This in turn led to the semi-finals where Shinji was matched against Emerald Sustrai of Haven…

* * *

 _'This is going to be too easy.'_ Emerald thought to herself as she stepped into the arena, watching as her opponent Shinji Ikari made his way to the other side, unsheathing his weapon from a holster on his back, a machete that he based off the progressive knife used by his Evangelion, rather than using high-frequency vibrations, it used a dust cell inserted into the bottom of the handle, the cell he was using this time was a fire dust cell which made the blade simmer red with heat.

What little Cinder and the others knew about the boy was that he was Glynda Goodwitch's apprentice, while they did not know anything about his past, family, or his prior education. Regardless, Emerald heard about how Glynda interrupted a dust robbery with Roman Torchwick but since she couldn't attack Glynda directly, she thought that the opportunity to attack her indirectly by putting down her apprentice was perfect.

She unholstered Thief's Respite, keeping her face level and licking her lips as the boy faced her on the opposite side, face resolute and weapon at the ready. As soon as the match began, she conjured an illusion of herself jumping above for an overhead strike while she was darting forward to attack him up front. However, rather than guarding from an attack from below, a blue shimmering octagonal forcefield appeared, blocking her illusion and herself when she struck. Her eyes widened when the boy realized where she actually was and immediately reeled back but she ended up getting the wind forced out of her when the apprentice used one of his forcefields to create a concussive blast that flung her backwards.

She barely managed to catch herself backflipping into a standing position when she saw the boy charging towards her, she crossed Thief's Respite in front of her to block a two-handed forward slice from the kid's machete managing to hold him off temporarily while she kicked him in the gut. He grunted and pulled back which gave Emerald ample time to backflip and then take a few shots out him with Thief's Respite, but he immediately summoned another one of his forcefields which prevented any real damage.

Emerald scowled in annoyance and conjured up another illusion, this time with two copies of herself one heading to the right and left to flank him while a third charged him from the front. She jumped over him of course and tried to take him out with a few chops from behind. That is when he thrust his machete down and formed a dome with his semblance and then channeling the energy of his dust cell to dispel a shockwave of fire disrupting her illusions and throwing her onto her back.

She conjured another illusion of herself as she rolled to one side while her copy rolled to another and took potshots at him, he just raised another forcefield to protect himself. Emerald glanced towards the screens of Amity Arena and saw that while Shinji aura was still partly in the green, her aura had fallen into the yellow and almost into the red. Growling in frustration, she decided to go all out with her illusions this time by getting inside of his head and using his worst fears against him. That proved to be a mistake because a series of images flashed before her eyes as she probed for his fears with one of them being a massive mechanical demon bathed in red light roaring at her and punching her in the face.

Pain spiked into her skull, she reeled back from the sudden sensation, shaking her head, and trying to conjure up another illusion only for the same pain to hit her again, forcing her to her knees. She looked up and saw Shinji lowering his weapon, looking concerned for her well-being. She growled, she didn't need or want his pity and after getting back up charged forward, opening fire with Thief's Respite. The kid used his semblance to block her gunfire, but he started dodging her when she tried to tear him up with a twirl of the scythe-like blades of her weapon.

"Quit hiding behind your semblance and fight me, damn it!" Emerald yelled angrily and darted forward again hoping to lacerate him with the blades of her weapon but then he swerved to the side and took a slice out of her right side followed by another slash across her back. She spun her body into a kick, but the boy blocked her and forced her back. The thief took a point-blank shot to his torso, but Shinji grabbed her wrist and twisted it, taking a small sliver of aura away and forcing the gun out of her hand. She tried to headbutt him, but he used his semblance to protect his face so she yanked her hand away as and pulled back. She darted forward again with the remaining half of thief's respite, taking two more shots which Shinji successfully blocked so she jumped above him and tried to get a kick to his head only for it to be shielded by his semblance which flung her back, she managed to catch herself with another backflip and grabbed the missing half of her weapon and started firing again. Shinji blocked a part of it then rolled to one side and then activating the dust cell in blade stabbed it into the ground, sending a wave of fire towards the thief that burnt part of her clothes and took a huge chunk out of her aura. Shaking away the pain, she roared in anger and tried to rend the boy apart with a quick slice from the right, he deflected it with the blade of his machete and slashed across her chest just below her breasts. She tried to swipe his legs from beneath him, but the boy jumped up boosted himself up with a burst from his semblance and landed behind her. She was too late to twist around and block him. Shinji activated the dust cell again, channeling fire through the blade he gave a heavy slash to her back that burnt through and shattered her aura. Emerald fell forward, trying to prop herself up only to finally fall back down as she went unconscious.

When she awoke, she would receive a harsh scolding from Cinder about underestimating her opponent. The next time she would be in Amity Arena would be when she was among the audience watching that blonde bimbo of Team RWBY Yang Xiao Long go up against the gray-haired asshole she called a partner Mercury Black. She was ready to use her semblance as per Cinder's orders but unfortunately for her, things would not go according to plan because when she tried to use her semblance, she got one hell of a migraine instead.

* * *

Shinji sighed after he read the news regarding a raid on a base used by the Valean Branch of the White Fang. Everyone, himself included were on edge after what happened after Yang's match with Mercury in the finals. The blonde, having attained victory turned around to leave but then Mercury suddenly and without warning tried attacking her from behind, a dishonorable and disgraceful attack. So Yang retaliated by blasting him back with Ember Celica, flinging back to the other side of the arena.

The crowd was angry and upset about Mercury's attack on her though the young man seemed oddly shocked when he saw the replay of his attack on the screens. The audience at the arena was angry and upset, booing, and jeering at him which inadvertently attracted more Grimm from outside of the kingdom. Atlesian Military and Valean Security forces stormed the ring with several of them surrounding Yang Xiao Long while the others surrounded Mercury Black. When a medic came by to inspect Mercury's legs, he resisted and then had to be pinned down by two soldiers at which point the medic found he had a pair of prosthetic legs, which were not listed on his transcripts nor his medical records from Haven.

He was disqualified and hauled off by the military for questioning, while Yang was ordered to leave the ring, she smartly obeyed and got off lightly for self-defense much to the relief of her sister Ruby, their father Taiyang, and their Uncle Qrow. However, that relief was short-lived because in the evening the arrest warrants for Mercury's Teammates were posted up that connected them to the breach, the break-in at the CCT tower, the death of the bookstore owner Tukson, and various thefts of dust alongside Roman Torchwick and members of the White Fang. It put everyone on edge which in turn attracted more Grimm outside of the Kingdom which lead to Huntsmen and Huntresses across the region being called in to cull their numbers.

It has been two days since then, while the Vytal Festival was still on-going (albeit with additional security measures through-out the kingdom), the tournament finals were temporarily put on hold while Huntresses, Huntsmen, Atlesian and Valean Forces continued to search the Kingdom for Mercury Black's teammates and also take down the Fang's activities in the region.

Already there was significant progress as several safehouses, bases, and sleeper cells were dismantled while Emerald Sustrai was captured last night as Cinder Fall had apparently fled and left her to fend for herself. As for Neo Politan, when she found out they were compromised she struck out on her own and neither her former allies nor the authorities knew where she had gone.

Even though there were reassurances that Vale was now safer than it was before the festival began, there was still lingering unease among everyone there. Shinji wished that he could help out somehow but Glynda had explained that the forces of the White Fang were not to be trifled with not to mention that the Grimm that were gathering outside of the Kingdom were much stronger than anything he or any of his fellow first years had faced so far.

So instead he took it upon himself to watch and listen for any news regarding current events until now. He realized that there was no point in getting upset or angry about a situation he couldn't control so he instead decided to go out and enjoy the festival.

It was refreshing to enjoy the outdoors and see the various stands and booths everyone had set-up. As he was passing through a crowd, he noticed a stage set up and saw a familiar face singing and dancing on it; Reese Chloris of Team ABRN from Haven. He arrived just in time to see her finish the song, giving an excited whoop as the audience (including her teammates) applauded her.

"Thank you, Reese Chloris." A well-dressed man said as Reese handed the mic to him, jumping off the stage with a grin on her face.

"Now then, does anyone else want to volunteer? Got a tune or two they'd like to share with us?" The man asked, "Anyone? Come on, don't be shy!"

"How about you young man?" He asked, pointing to Shinji who recoiled a little.

"Me? I'm not so sure…" He muttered, rubbing his arm shyly. He never was one for being the center of attention.

"Come on, give it a shot!" The man encouraged and soon there were others doing the same. Giving into peer pressure with a sigh, Shinji nodded.

"Excellent, come on up!"

* * *

Weiss had just finished up a meal with her teammates, it was from the ramen booth that they tried buying food from a while back.

"That was good." Yang said, patting her belly affectionately.

Blake hummed in agreement.

"Oof, If I eat anymore, I'm going to die…" Ruby whimpered.

"Well, that's what you get for pigging out on those eggrolls, sis." Yang laughed.

"You dummy!" Ruby pouted and began softly hitting at her older sibling much to the amusement of a few people walking around.

Weiss shook her head in fond annoyance, those two could be such a handful at times but now they were being embarrassing.

"Hey, is that Shinji?"

Upon hearing that name, Weiss perked up and indeed she saw the boy on a stage in front of a small crowd of people.

"Give it up for Shinji Ikari!" a well-dressed man said as he handed him a microphone.

The boy gulped, nervously pulling at the collar of his shirt. Realizing that he was suffering from Stage Fright she broke off from her team and pushed her way through the crowd until saw the man running the stage.

"Excuse me, sir?" She asked.

"How can I help you, young lady?"

"You wouldn't happen to have another microphone, would you?"

* * *

 _'It's now or never,'_ Shinji thought to himself, watching as the crowd looked at him expectantly. He began singing softly,

**_"Zan-koku na ten-shi no you ni"_ **

_" **Shou-nen yo shin-wa ni na-re"**_

Shinji's head whirled to the side and saw Weiss singing along with him. He gave her a shocked look and then she gave him a nod.

"HIT IT!" The heiress yelled and then the instrumentals began as she started dancing with Shinji cautiously following behind her, singing the first verse…

**_"Aoi, kaze ga im-a,_ **

**_Mu-ne no DOA wo tataite mo,_ **

**_Watashi dake wo tada mits-um-e-te._ **

**_Hohoende'ru a-na-ta."_ **

With Weiss singing the next one…

**_"Sotto, fureru mono,_ **

**_Motomeru koto ni muchuu de,_ **

**_Unmei Sae Mada Shiranai_ **

**_It-a-ike na hi-to-mi."_ **

Then they began harmonizing together,

**_"Da-ke-do It-su0ka Kid-zu-ku De-shou_ **

**_So-no Se-na-ka ni wa…_ **

**_Ha-ru-ka Mi-rai Me-za-su ta-me no_ **

**_Ha-ne ga aru ko-to."_ **

**_"Zan-koku na ten-shi no te-ze,"_ **

**_"Ma-do-be kara yagate to-bi-tat-su,"_ **

**_"Ho-tobashi-ru at-sui pa-to-su de,"_ **

**_"Omoi-de wo uragiru nara."_ **

**_"Ko-no so-ra wo dai-te kagayaku,_ **

**_Shou-nen yo shin-wa ni nare!"_ **

There was a brief pause, allowing both of them to catch their breaths as the instrumental continued, Shinji giving a small smile to Weiss that she returned before she turned forward and closed her eyes to sing in tune with the chorus, something Shinji did afterwards as they both harmonized and then let the instrumental background music continue.

Soon though Shinji began singing again…

**_"Zut-to nemutte'ru,_ **

**_Wa-ta-shi no ai no yurika-go,_ **

**_Anata dake ga yu-me no shisha ni_ **

**_Yobareru a-sa ga ku-ru."_ **

Followed by Weiss…

**_"Ho-soi Ku-bisuji wo,_ **

**_Tsukiakari ga utsushite'ru._ **

**_Sekai-juu no toki wo to-me,_ **

**_Toji-ko-metai ke-do."_ **

More people gathered around to listen to them as they began harmonizing, with some cheering them on, others clapping along with the beat of the song, or even some breaking out their scrolls and recording the performance.

**_"Mo-shi-mo fu-ta-ri ae-ta ko-to ni_ **

**_Imi ga a-ru na-ra."_ **

* * *

Meanwhile on an Atlesian airship, Winter was on board commanding the ship until General Ironwood returns.

"Specialist Schnee."

Speak of the devil, Winter looked around and saw that he was watching something on his scroll.

"Take a look." He said, with a small smile. Winter raised an eyebrow and then saw the video playing live from the festival, watching as her younger sister was singing alongside Shinji Ikari.

**_"Wa-ta-shi wa sou jiyuu wo shi-ru,_ **

**_Ta-me no bai-bu-ru."_ **

As she watched it, she discreetly forwarded the link to the performance to her mother.

* * *

Willow Schnee was surprised to receive a text from her eldest child Winter. While her first child and her husband Jacques were not on particularly good terms, she sometimes kept in contact with her. In the text it was a link to a live video performance, curious she opened the link and saw-

**_"Zan-koku na ten-shi no te-ze,"_ **

Her daughter singing on a stage with a boy.

**_"Ka-na-shi-mi ga soshite ha-jima-ru,"_ **

Despite the fact he looked scrawny from first glance, she could tell that he was a huntsmen-in-training not just from the weapon on his back but the subtle amount of muscle-mass on his frame and the way he carried himself.

**_"Da-kishi-me-ta inochi no ka-ta-chi,"_ **

**_"So-no yu-me ni me-za-meta to-ki."_ **

She also saw how her daughter seemed to look him in the eye in… _'Ah, I see now.'_ She gave a genuine chuckle, her heart warming at the knowledge that one of her children had found someone to love and someone who would more than likely love her back.

**_"Da-re yo-ri mo hi-kari wo hanatsu,_ **

**_Shou-nen yo shin-wa ni nare!"_ **

She knew her husband wouldn't be happy about this but if he tried anything, she wouldn't hesitate to intervene if necessary, she may have been a depressed drunk but she'd be damned if that man did something to hurt her children.

For now, she would continue to watch this performance unaware of the pleasant surprise that she would witness.

* * *

**_"Hi-to wa ai wo tsu-mu-gi na-ga-ra_ **

**_Re-ki-shi wo tsu-ku-ru…"_ **

Despite being an experienced singer, Weiss was starting to reach her limit, but she would continue on not for the audience or for fame but for the boy she had fallen for.

**_"Me-ga-mi nan-te na-re-nai ma-ma_ **

**_Wa-ta-shi wa ik-i-ru."_ **

Shinji was in the same place, while he did a bit of karaoke back at Tokyo-3 he'd never sing with as much passion or power before and it was taking a lot out of him. That being said he was going to finish this for Weiss, the girl who saved his life, the girl who knew of his origin and his original life, the girl who made him feel alive.

**_"Zan-koku na ten-shi no te-ze,"_ **

**_"Ma-do-be kara yagate to-bi-tat-su,"_ **

**_"Ho-tobashi-ru at-sui pa-to-su de,"_ **

**_"Omoi-de wo uragiru nara."_ **

**_"Ko-no so-ra wo dai-te kagayaku,_ **

**_Shou-nen yo shin-wa ni nare!"_ **

With that explosive finish, the crowd which had grown to hundreds of people cheered and applauded them. Weiss looked to Shinji, who much like her was panting and covered in sweat yet carried a small smile on her face. Her heart was beating out of her chest and the butterflies in her stomach had become a kaleidoscope of positive emotions and she could not resist taking two steps forward, cupping his cheeks in her hands and then she passionately kissed him on the lips. Shinji on the other hand froze before wrapping his arms around the heiress and returning it with all his love and affection for her.

The crowd went wild, whooping and cheering them on. Even members of Team RWBY were encouraging them with Ruby Giddily squealing and clapping her hands in delight, Blake shrugging and yelling "Banzai!" while Yang gave the pair a full-on wolf whistle.

When the heiress and pilot broke the kiss, they looked at each other with blushes on their faces and love in their eyes. They hugged each other with Shinji nuzzling into Weiss' chest while Weiss nuzzled into his hair and peppered his head with kisses.

* * *

Of all the things Glynda Goodwitch hated was getting home late whether it was because Ozpin left a hefty load of paperwork to sign or her duties as huntress, getting home late at night usually meant she was either going to lose a few hours of sleep or be late to work.

Despite that, she would at least have some amount of satisfaction before she fell asleep. While Cinder Fall, the women who stole the Fall Maiden's power was still on the loose, her two cohorts Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai provided valuable information during an interrogation. She frowned a little when she remembered the interrogation of the two of them.

Mercury Black was defiant and belligerent when he was brought aboard one of the Atlesian Airships, but they managed to get him to spill a few secrets by bringing up his father. He refused to speak after that and General Ironwood was tempted to resort to more drastic measures of extracting information including torture. However, they didn't need to once Emerald Sustrai was captured.

Glynda did feel a bit of pity for the girl, she had idolized Cinder Fall and was doing everything to earn her praise but then she was abandoned, that betrayal took a significant emotional and mental toll on her. At first, she was in no shape for interrogation, being emotionally distraught and at one point during her imprisonment she had be restrained after a suicide attempt. It was only after she had calmed down significantly that Glynda managed to coax her into telling her everything she knew.

The information they gained was valuable as Glynda along with several huntresses and huntsman of Vale successfully raided several White Fang hideouts throughout the Kingdom and nearby settlements, doing a significant amount of damage to their morale and organization. As for the two teens themselves, Mercury was to be transferred to an Atlesian Prison as he obviously made it clear that he was a selfish individual who would do whatever he wanted regardless of whether it was illegal or not. Emerald on the other hand would be given a chance to pick up the pieces of her life albeit under the watchful eyes, ears, and guardianship of Winter Schnee.

Glynda yawned, bringing out her keys and opening the door to her townhouse. She wondered how Shinji was doing, she had heard that he had performed alongside Weiss Schnee on stage at the festival and then snogged each other shortly afterwards. She shook her head in amusement, opening the door to her home and take a few steps inside, looking around and seeing nothing of interest had happened while she was gone she took off her boots and placed them on a cubby next to Shinji's shoes and-

She paused. _'What is Miss Schnee's boots doing here?'_ She thought, she checked the kitchen, family room, and living room and neither she nor Shinji were in any of those rooms. She went upstairs first taking a peek into Shinji's Room and-

 _'Oh…'_ She froze when she saw what or rather who was on Shinji's bed. The first person was Shinji himself, dressed in his pajama shirt and shorts while behind him was Weiss Schnee in slightly risqué lingerie consisting of a white teddy with garterbelts, matching stockings and gloves spooning the boy from behind with her nose nuzzled into his hair. As quietly as she could, Glynda pulled the blankets and covers over the two teens and then left the room, not noticing Weiss open her eyes blearily and watch her leave the room. When she was gone, she heard and felt Shinji stir a little in her arms.

"Weiss?" He asked blearily.

The heiress shushed him, "It's alright, Glynda just got home."

The boy nodded and shifted a bit, turning around to place a soft peck on Weiss' lips.

"I love you…" He whispered.

Weiss responded with a kiss of her own, "I love you too, Shinji."

And then they snuggled closer to each other before falling back to sleep. They may have been from two different worlds and they may have been lonely throughout most of their lives but as long as they had their love and each other they would never be alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was another hard snippet for me to write at first because I couldn't figure out what would lead to Shinji and Weiss getting together when I had an epiphany and realized that despite their different upbringings (and their willingness in both of them) both of them were pretty much considered tools or means to an end by their Fathers. So I built this story upon that and this was the result.
> 
> Anyway, the next snippet will involve Shinji Ikari and Blake Belladonna which shouldn't take me too long to write since I have a general idea where I want to go story-wise.


End file.
